Technology Transfer and Applications

Abstract

The Chapter presents the profound impact of technology in planning and implementation of forest inventories, starting with applications of micro-computing technology in seventies followed by space technology; and then the information and communication technology. All these technologies have direct bearing on forest inventory design, data collection, data processing, analysis and reporting method. In particular, satellite remote sensing has become the main source of forest area information in most of tropical countries on account of ease of data gathering and lower cost compared to aerial photographs. The capacity building, development of standards and harmonization of methods and technology transfer need to be coordinated, reasonably robust inventory approaches developed and disseminated to enable tropical countries to meet national and international obligations.