Climate change and forest management: Adaptation of geospatial technologies

Global climate disruption, mainly due to human interaction with the environment, has led to increased concerns about the impact of such disruption on major areas of sustainable development. This has resulted in various innovations in technology, policy and forged alliances at regional and international scales in an effort to reduce humans´ impact on climate. Forests provide a suitable option for reducing the net amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere by acting as carbon sinks, thereby forming one part of a more complete solution for combating climate change. At the same time, forests are also sensitive to changes in climate, making sustainable forest management a critical component of present and future climate change strategies. This paper examines the contribution of geospatial technologies in supporting sustainable forest management, emphasizing its use in the classification of forests, estimation of their structure, detecting change and modeling of carbon stocks.