CTrees

CTrees.org – Overview

• Type: Non-profit scientific institution and data platform
• Mission: Provide science-based, transparent forest-carbon data globally, down to individual trees, to support climate policy, MRV, and climate finance decisions.
• Core function: Global forest-carbon monitoring system providing:
  • Tree- and stand-level estimates of aboveground carbon stocks
  • Deforestation, degradation, and regrowth dynamics
  • Data products for governments, companies, and NGOs to use in climate policy, reporting, and finance

Methods & Technology

• Uses satellite imagery (including high-resolution commercial data)
• Applies AI / machine learning and LiDAR-based modeling
• Integrates ground-based data and collaborations with research institutions (e.g., NASA Carbon Monitoring System)
• Delivers global datasets and tools via a cloud infrastructure (e.g., AWS) for scalable processing and access

Products / Tools (examples)

• Global maps of forest cover, carbon stocks, and changes
• Tools such as REDD+AI for identifying stable forest, degradation, and deforestation patterns
• Interactive map products for tropical forest loss and degradation used by NGOs and companies for risk and impact analysis

Ecosystem & Partnerships

• Works with scientific and institutional partners such as NASA Carbon Monitoring System (CMS) and other research organizations
• Uses Amazon Web Services (AWS) as a key cloud partner to process and serve global forest-carbon data

Relevance for Climate Finance

• Provides independent, science-based estimates of forest carbon that can support:
  • Sovereign and subnational REDD+ accounting
  • Evaluation of forest and land-use related carbon credits
  • Corporate nature-based climate strategies and disclosure
  • Monitoring of forest-related transition and physical risks in portfolios