Global Forest Watch (GFW)

Website: https://www.globalforestwatch.org/ 
 

Prerequisites

Data Source

You will need:

  • GFW username and password
  • GFW area of interest (URL)
    • Warning: Multipolygon areas are not supported by Gundi yet. 

Data Delivery

EarthRanger

  • A special EarthRanger user (e.g., “Gundi Service Account”) for this integration. Please refer to EarthRanger's documentation or contact Support.
  • A long-lived token for authentication assigned to the user created in the previous step. Please refer to EarthRanger's documentation or contact Support.
  • Please ensure that following permissions are set in the Gundi permission set:
    • Can create analyzer_event reports
    • Can update analyzer_event reports
    • Can read analyzer_event reports
    • Can delete analyzer_event reports
  • Confirm that the required event types and schemas are configured in EarthRanger. Consult our references here.
  • Update the EarthRanger user (e.g., “Gundi Service Account”) to give it permission to the event type.

Other Notes:

  • Consider configuring auto-resolve to 2 days or so. Ask the user for confirmation.
 
 

SMART Connect

Ensure that the necessary categories and attributes are established in your SMART CA data model beforehand. Consult our references here.

 
 

 

Configuration in Gundi

Login to Gundi.

Click on Create Connection.

Select Global Forest Watch.

Select your Organization.

Enter a name for this Connection (e.g., “GFW - AreaName”)

Configure your GFW credentials.

Global Forest Watch AOI Share Link

  • Configure the area of interest provided by Global Forest Watch AOI “Share Link”.

Partition interval size in degrees (Optional) 

  • You can use the default value and leave this field unchanged. Our Support team may adjust this parameter for performance optimization.

Partition of 0.3

Partition of 0.6

Include fire alerts (Optional) 

  • Configure the number of lookback days. 
  • Configure the lowest confidence level you wish to receive.

Include integrated deforestation alert (Optional) 

  • Configure the number of lookback days.
  • Configure the lowest confidence level you wish to receive.

Force fetch (Optional) 

  • You can leave this unchecked. Our Support team may use it to resolve certain issues. “Force Fetch” is used to fetch data as soon as possible, rather than waiting for the automatic schedule, which can be 4 to 12 hours after the last pull for this account.

Click Next.

Select a Destination. Please consult our guides.


Next Steps

EarthRanger

Consider configuring “auto-resolve” in EarthRanger using a number of hours.

If the amount of data is undesired or not helpful, consider updating the "Integrated deforestation alerts lowest confidence" or "Fire alerts lowest confidence" parameter in Gundi. 

 
 

SMART Connect

If the amount of data is undesired or not helpul, consider updating the "Integrated deforestation alerts lowest confidence" or "Fire alerts lowest confidence" parameter in Gundi. 

 
 

Note on Latency

The time it takes for data to appear in your destination system depends on several factors, such as latency introduced by the source, network conditions, and intermediary systems. 

While these factors may vary, Gundi typically checks for available data in Global Forest Watch's database on a scheduled interval of approximately 10 minutes. If your data is not available in EarthRanger or SMART Connect after this interval, kindly refer to the GFW Dashboard to review the availability of data. Alternatively, please contact our Support team for further assistance.

 

Tags: Remote Imagery, Fire Alerts, Deforestation, Pull Integration, Events, Data Provider
Last Update: Sep 4, 2025