Data on tropical forests are in high demand. But ground forest measurements are hard to sustain and the people who make them are extremely disadvantaged compared to those who use them. We propose a new approach to forest data that focuses on the needs of data originators, and ensures users and funders contribute properly.
This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution
Access options
Access Nature and 54 other Nature Portfolio journals
Get Nature+, our best-value online-access subscription
$29.99 / 30 days
cancel any time
Subscribe to this journal
Receive 12 digital issues and online access to articles
$119.00 per year
only $9.92 per issue
Rent or buy this article
Get just this article for as long as you need it
$39.95
Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout
Data availability
The data used to produce Fig. 1 are publicly available. Data on gross domestic product and population size are available from the World Bank at https://data.worldbank.org/indicator. Data on tropical forest area (closed, open or fragmented forests) were extracted from the Forests 2000 by Major Ecological Domains grid, provided by the Food and Agriculture Organization at http://www.fao.org/geonetwork.
References
Liang, J. & Gamarra, J. G. P. Sci. Data 7, 424 (2020).
Wilkinson, M. D. et al. Sci. Data 3, 160018 (2016).
Carroll, S. R. et al. Data Sci. J. 19, 43 (2020).
Verhulst, S. G. & Young, A. Open Data in Developing Economies: Toward Building an Evidence Base on What Works and How (African Minds, 2017).
May, R. M. Science 275, 793–796 (1997).
Bezuidenhout, L. M., Leonelli, S., Kelly, A. H. & Rappert, B. Sci. Public Policy 44, 464–475 (2017).
Nuñez, M. A., Chiuffo, M. C., Pauchard, A. & Zenni, R. D. Trends Ecol. Evol. 36, 766–769 (2021).
Armenteras, D. Nat. Ecol. Evol. 5, 1193–1194 (2021).
Trisos, C. H., Auerbach, J. & Katti, M. Nat. Ecol. Evol. 5, 1205–1212 (2021).
Davies, T. & Perini, F. J. Comm. Inform. 12, 148–178 (2016).
Gurstein, M. B. First Monday 16, https://doi.org/10.5210/fm.v16i2.3316 (2011).
ForestPlots.net et al. Biol. Conserv. 260, 108849 (2021).
Castillo, P. S. B. & Alvarez, M. Forest Inventory and Analysis Fiscal Year 2018 Business Report (US Department of Agriculture, 2020)
Serwadda, D., Ndebele, P., Grabowski, M. K., Bajunirwe, F. & Wanyenze, R. K. Science 359, 642–643 (2018).
Baker, T. R. et al. Plants, People, Planet 3, 229–237 (2021).
Davies, S. J. et al. Biol. Conserv. 253, 108907 (2021).
The SEOSAW partnership. Plants, People, Planet 3, 249–267 (2021).
Acknowledgements
The authors thank T. Pennington, F. Costa and A. Vicentini for helpful discussions and comments on earlier versions of this manuscript. For support in making this possible, we thank the Royal Society (International Collaboration Award, ICA\R1\180100), the Leverhulme Trust (APX\R1\191094), NERC (NE/S011811/1 ‘ARBOLES’; NE/T01279X/1 ‘SECO’), São Paulo Research Foundation (FAPESP), National Council for Scientific and Technological Development (CNPq), Vietnam Ministry of Science and Technology (project contract 23/2020/HĐ-NĐT), the Global Land Programme, Missouri Botanical Garden, US National Science Foundation (Award 2020424) and the Peruvian Service for Natural Protected Areas (SERNANP).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Contributions
O.L.P. drafted the initial version of the manuscript with subsequent inputs from R.A.F.d.L. R.A.F.d.L. produced the figures. All authors contributed to discussing the theme, made suggestions and approved the text, along with the following positionality statement. Positionality statement: We, the authors, are all forest researchers working across different disciplines and networks to better understand tropical and subtropical forests and support their sustainable future. Some come from the South and are based in the South, some come from the North and based in the North, and some from the South are based currently in the North. We recognize that labels such as North and South, while useful, simplify complex realities, and are to an extent limited. In our careers we have been originators in the sense of working in the field to establish, identify and/or re-measure forest and savannah plots. We have also worked to get funding to establish and sustain plots, support data management, grow collaborations and do science. Many of us have also benefitted in different ways, including publications, building research groups and achieving professional recognition. Although our experiences, career stages and backgrounds are diverse, we are united by our convictions that the production and the use of forest data must become more equitable, that many less-visible colleagues who contribute vital work need proper recognition, and that fair, long-term collaboration across geographical, socio-economic and cultural divides is essential to build the best outcomes for science and society.
Corresponding authors
Ethics declarations
Competing interests
The authors declare no competing interests.
Peer review
Peer review information
Nature Ecology & Evolution thanks Rob Crystal-Ornelas and Mariana Chiuffo for their contribution to the peer review of this work.
Supplementary information
Supplementary Information
The Distribution of Tropical Forests and National Investments in Research and Development Across the World.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
de Lima, R.A.F., Phillips, O.L., Duque, A. et al. Making forest data fair and open. Nat Ecol Evol 6, 656–658 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41559-022-01738-7
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41559-022-01738-7
