Live planet · by World Resources Institute (WRI)

Global Forest Watch

WRI's map and data platform for tracking forest loss, deforestation alerts and land use worldwide from satellite data, with a public Data API; globalforestwatch.org now redirects to Global Nature Watch.

Near-real-time satellite alerts let you see where forest is being cleared this week, down to individual patches.

ChangedLiveAPIDownloadCommercial: conditions

Open globalnaturewatch.org ↗ agent.md

This site has changed since it became known for this. It now goes to https://globalnaturewatch.org/.

For your project

Official API: Official API · Free
“Use GFW DATA API to explore, manage and access data.” data-api.globalforestwatch.org/openapi.json
Key: Needed
“each request to an API must include one of Your Account's unique API keys.” globalnaturewatch.org/terms/
Formats: JSON, CSV, GEOTIFF, SHP, GPKG
Data download: Yes json, csv, geotiff, shp, gpkg
License: per-dataset licences (many CC BY 4.0) + WRI terms Datasets served through the site and Data API; each dataset has its own licence
Commercial use: Commercial use with conditions
“each dataset carries its own license and restrictions.” globalnaturewatch.org/terms/
Credit: Credit required
“If You use Our APIs in Your own products, please credit Us.” globalnaturewatch.org/terms/
Embedding: Embedding unclear
Using the website: Free

Read on Global Forest Watch's own pages on Oct 23, 2026 · license or terms · API docs. Check the license page before you ship.

For your agent

A request your code or agent can make (add your key):

https://data-api.globalforestwatch.org/datasets

Dataset listings (GET /datasets) work without a key; data queries and downloads need an x-api-key header from POST /auth/apikey (keys last one year). Check each dataset's metadata for its own licence.
Credit WRI / Global Forest Watch when using the APIs, and follow each dataset's own licence and citation.
Send your API key with every data request; keys expire after a year.
globalforestwatch.org now redirects to globalnaturewatch.org; the Data API still lives at data-api.globalforestwatch.org.

Paste into your agent: Read https://agentgid.com/resources/global-forest-watch/agent.md before using Global Forest Watch.

What you can build

A deforestation alert digest for one protected area, pulling weekly alerts via the Data API query endpoint.
A tree-cover-loss chart per country or region using query/csv on the University of Maryland tree cover loss dataset.
A supply-chain checker that flags farm polygons overlapping recent forest loss (respecting each dataset's licence).

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