The Forest Watcher mobile app allows you to monitor forests offline and in the field. With Forest Watcher, you can download deforestation and fire alerts for your area of interest, navigate to the alerts and document evidence of the cause of the alerts.

Below you’ll find a typical workflow for setting up the app, defining an area of interest, adjusting app settings, and navigating to deforestation or fires alerts in the area offline and creating reports on what you find.

Set up the app

Download the Forest Watcher mobile app from the Google Play or Apple App Store, depending on your device. Once you’ve opened the app, a tutorial will appear on the screen.
You can set up the app by logging in with either Facebook, Twitter, Google or an email. Groups who are sharing devices often create one shared account for their team so everyone who has the login and password can access the areas, reports and routes that are saved to the account.

Log in to Forest Watcher using one of the available options.

Create an area of interest

After logging in, create an area of interest by first selecting a country. To view a list of countries, tap the search icon or begin typing the name of the country. Tap “Next” once your country of interest is selected.

Select your country of interest then click “Next.”

Your country of interest will appear on the map. You can activate contextual layers such as the boundaries of protected areas and oil palm plantations or where tree cover loss has occurred in a specified year, to help orient your area of interest. To activate a contextual layer, follow the next four steps.

Tap the settings gear icon on the top right to access contextual layers.

Tap the settings gear icon on the top right then tap the settings gear icon underneath “Contextual Layers” to access available contextual layers.

Tap the settings gear icon underneath “Contextual Layers.”

Select the contextual layers you’d like to view on the map by tapping the circle to the right of them. Once selected, a green checkmark will appear.

Tap the circle next to the contextual layers you’d like to activate.

Tap “Manage Contextual Layers” to download them for offline use, share them with another device or upload your own. To download a contextual layer for offline use, tap the download icon to the right of the contextual layer name. When the download is complete, the down arrow will change to a check mark. Downloading a contextual layer for offline use will allow you to view it without Internet connection but will take up additional storage on your device. Learn more about how to upload your own contextual layers here; and about how to share app content, including contextual layers, here.

Tap “Manage Contextual Layers” to download, share and upload contextual layers.

Once your contextual layers are selected, tap the back-arrow icon on the top left to return to the map. Tap the settings gear icon then tap the circle next to “Contextual Layers” to activate the layer(s) you selected. The layers will now be visible on the map.

Tap the circle next to “Contextual Layers” to activate the layers you selected on the map.

The selected contextual layers will now be visible on the map.

Zoom in to the area you’d like to monitor by touching two fingers on the map and spreading them apart. You can also move around the map by dragging your finger across the screen.

Zoom in by spreading your fingers apart on the screen.

To create your area of interest, tap the screen with your finger to place points. These points will define the area’s boundaries. Once your shape is complete, click “Next” to save it.

Tap the screen to create points, forming your area of interest.

Tap the pencil icon to enter a name for your area of interest then click “Finish.”

After saving your area, you will be brought to the areas page. Tap the download icon over your area’s image to download your area of interest for offline use. This will allow you to access the area on the app without Internet connection. When the download is complete, the down arrow will change to a check mark.

Tap the download icon to download the area for offline use.

Once downloaded, the down arrow on the icon will change to a check mark.

Tap the “+” icon on the top right to add an additional area of interest.

Adjust app settings

Tap the back-arrow icon on the top left to access the homepage. From here, tap “Settings” and follow the next four steps to learn about the available app settings.

Tap “Settings” to access the available app settings.

This is the settings page. From here, you can activate “Offline Mode” to access the areas of interest that you downloaded . “Offline Mode” helps increase the app’s stability and saves battery life while you are in the field. When activated, the icon will turn green. It is best practice to confirm that your area and the alerts within it have successfully downloaded before departing on an investigation. To do this, activate “Offline Mode” then navigate back to the areas page, select your area and verify that you can see the alerts.

Activate “Offline Mode” to use the app offline. When activated, the icon will turn green.

Tap the “Coordinates Format” menu to select your preferred coordinate format. The default is “Decimal,” but you can choose between decimal, degrees and UTM. Once selected, click “Done.”

Select your preferred coordinates format.

Tap “Basemaps” or “Contextual Layers” to access additional settings for each. From here, you can download available basemaps or contextual layers for offline use by tapping the download icon to the right of its name. Downloading a basemap or contextual layer for offline use will allow you to view it without Internet connection but will take up additional storage on your device. You can also upload your own basemap or contextual layer or share them with another device. Learn more about uploading basemaps and contextual layers to the app here, and about sharing app content here.

Tap “Basemaps” to customize the basemap.

Tap “Contextual Layers” to customize contextual layers.

You can also share all app content (areas, contextual layers, basemaps, routes and reports) with another device by tapping “Share All App Data” on the settings page.

Tap “Share All App Data” to share app content with another device.

Tap the back-arrow icon to navigate back to the homepage and tap “Areas” to return to the areas page.

Tap your area of interest to view it on the map. By default, you will see any deforestation alerts found in the area.

Access your area of interest on the map.

Tap the settings gear icon to customize what is visible on the map. You can add or remove alerts, routes, reports or contextual layers from here, and change the basemap. Follow the next five steps to learn about how to customize the map view.

Tap the settings gear icon to access available map settings.

To customize the alerts, tap the settings gear icon underneath “Alerts.” From here, you can modify the date range for the deforestation alerts, turn on the fire alerts and modify the alert date range. The deforestation and fire alerts indicate areas of likely forest change and are helpful to prioritize where to investigate. Deforestation and fires alerts can be viewed simultaneously on the map.

Customize the alerts visible on the map.

To customize routes, tap the settings gear icon underneath “Routes.” Routes track the path used to get to an area and can be saved to the app. Routes can be helpful for revisiting sites. You can select a route to view on the map from a list of your previously saved routes. Tap “Manage Routes” to edit or share your saved routes.

Customize the routes visible on the map.

To customize reports, tap the settings gear icon underneath “Reports.” Reports can be created while in the field to document any findings. Reports help you provide additional information on what was found in an area. You can select a report to view on the map from a list of previously saved reports. Tap “Manage Reports” to edit or share your saved reports.

Customize the reports visible on the map.

To customize the contextual layers, tap the settings gear icon underneath “Contextual Layers” and select which contextual layers you’d like to view on the map. Tap “Manage Contextual Layers” to download layers for offline use, share them with another device or upload your own.

Customize the contextual layers visible on the map.

To customize the basemap, tap the settings gear icon on the bottom of the map settings and select which basemap you’d like to view. Basemaps are helpful for visualizing data because they allow you to view the map with a different background. For example, the “Satellite” basemap is helpful for orienting yourself in an area because it displays satellite imagery and includes geographic names and markers sourced from Google. Tap “Manage Basemaps” to download the maps for offline use, share them with another device or upload your own.

Customize the basemap visible on the map.

To activate what you selected to view on the map, return to the map and tap the settings gear icon. Tap the circle icon next to the layer you want to activate. Once activated, a green check mark will appear and your selected layers will be visible on the map.

Return to the map settings and tap the circle to activate your preferred layers.

Navigate to an area of interest and report on what you find

Start navigating to your destination from the map by first either selecting one alert or a group of adjacent alerts, or by placing a pin using the pin icon on the bottom right. Selecting alerts allows you to navigate directly to areas of likely forest change, whereas placing a pin allows you to navigate to any area or create a report for an area without an alert. You can zoom in by spreading your fingers apart on the screen or by tapping on an alert.

Zoom in to the area you’d like to navigate to.

Tap one or more alerts. When a deforestation alert is selected, it will turn green; and when a fire alert is selected, it will turn blue.

Alternatively, zoom in to an area without alerts then tap the pin icon on the bottom right.

Create a report or navigate to the pinned area to start investigating.

Once you select your destination, four icons will appear on the bottom of the page.
1. The start icon starts tracking your route while navigating to the location. The route tracking feature is helpful because it offers the ability to save the path taken to a destination, which can then be referenced when revisiting that site.
2. The “x” icon deselects the selected alert selected or placed pin.
3. The crosshair icon directs the map to your current location.
4. The report icon allows you to document any findings while navigating to an area or when you arrive at your destination. If you notice deforestation or another threat on the way to your destination that is not marked by an alert, you can place a pin on the location and create a report.
Tap the start icon on the bottom left to start tracking your route from your current location to the selected destination. You can choose to record your route one way to your destination or round trip back to your original point of departure.

Tap the report icon on the bottom right to start a report to document any findings either along your route or at the selected destination.
The report form will be activated. Take or choose a photo to attach to your report. The photo(s) will provide visual evidence of what occurred in the area. Once done, tap the next icon on the bottom right.

Take or add a photo by clicking the camera icon on the bottom left.

After adding a photo, you will be prompted to answer a series of questions to describe what you found in the area. Once done, you can choose to save the report to your device or delete the report. You can also save a draft report and return to it later by tapping the icon on the top right. Return to step 16 to create another report.

After answering a series of questions, tap “Send” to save the report to your device.

Tap the stop icon on the bottom left to stop recording your route. You can either save your route for future reference or delete it. If you choose to save your route, you will be prompted to name the route and define its difficulty level. Once done, tap “Save Route.”

Save your route by giving it a name and rating its difficulty level.

Navigate back to the homepage by tapping the back-arrow icon on the top left, then click “Reports” to review, export or upload reports. You will be able to see your draft reports as well as your completed ones.

Tap “Reports” on the homepage to access the reports page.

Navigate back to the homepage again, then click “Routes” to review, access and share your saved routes. You can also download a route for offline use by clicking the down arrow. When the download is complete, the down arrow will change to a check mark.

Tap “Routes” on the homepage to access the routes page. Download a route by tapping the download icon. Once downloaded, it will change to a check mark.

Hand graphic by Rawpixel.