Kosovo strengthens Forest Monitoring with Open Foris Arena

Kosovo has taken an important step in advancing its forest monitoring by launching the third cycle (2024–2025) of the National Forest Inventory (NFI). Building on earlier inventories conducted in 2002 and 2012, this new cycle marks a major technological leap forward through the integration of Open Foris Arena and Arena Mobile – open-source digital platforms that streamline data collection, processing, and quality assurance. 

Implemented by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), with financial support from the European Union and Sweden, and capacity development under the CBIT-Forest initiative, the NFI is designed to generate robust, transparent and comparable data to support sustainable forest management and climate-related reporting. 

Building technical capacity for transparent forest data 

As part of the preparatory phase, an intensive training session was held in Blinaja from 18 to 22 November 2024, bringing together around 20 local experts, including 6 women, from the Kosovo Forestry Agency (KFA) and partner institutions. 

During the week-long training, participants enhanced their forest measurement skills and piloted Kosovo’s NFI methodology using Arena Mobile in the field. Real-time data collection exercises helped test and refine survey design, ensuring accurate data capture and robust quality management. 

The event also marked the official launch of the Kosovo NFI, in the presence of representatives from the Embassy of Sweden, the KFA, FAO, and other national stakeholders. The training equipped participants with practical skills and the confidence to manage and analyse forest data, laying the foundation for a reliable National Forest Monitoring System (NFMS).

From training to full implementation 

Following the successful training, Kosovo moved into the implementation phase of the NFI. In 2025, field crews began data collection using Arena Mobile. while data management and validation processes were carried out through the Arena platform.  

As of 27th  October 2025, 1301 plots have been measured across the country, with the remaining plots scheduled for completion before the end of the month of November. This milestone demonstrates Kosovo’s commitment to sustaining data-driven forest management and contributes to global efforts to monitor forest resources and carbon stocks.  

To build on this momentum, the Kosovo Forestry Agency has requested FAO’s continued technical assistance to support data cleansing, database updates, the integration of earlier NFI datasets into Arena and conducting NFI data analysis, as well as forthcoming capacity-building activities focused on data analysis and reporting. These steps will ensure that Kosovo’s forest data are not only comprehensive and consistent, but also fully interoperable with regional and global forest monitoring system.

Strengthening transparency through open data and digital innovation 

The introduction of Open Foris Arena supports Kosovo in aligning its forest data systems with international transparency frameworks. By enabling real-time data collection, automated quality checks and open-source data management, the use of Arena strengthens institutional capacity to produce credible information for national policies, international reporting and climate action. 

Through continued investment in people and technology, Kosovo is setting an example of how open digital solutions can empower countries to manage forests more sustainably and transparently. 

With the support of the UK government through the AIM4Forests programme, Arena will continue to provide users with the solutions to efficiently collect high-quality data. 

More on this topic

Related Links: 

• Open Foris Arena
• Open Foris Arena Mobile  
• Food and Agriculture Microdata Catalogue (FAM)
• NFI eLearning Course 

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