The role of big data in China’s sustainable forest management

Abstract

Purpose Forest as a vital natural resource in China plays an irreplaceable important role in safeguarding ecological security and human survival and development. Due to the vast territory, huge population and widespread forest landscape of China, forest management is a complex system involving massive data and various management activities. To effectively implement sustainable forest management, the big data technology has been utilized to analyze China’s forestry resources. Thus, the purpose of this paper is to clarify the role of big data technology in China’s forest management. Design/methodology/approach In this paper, the authors revisited the roles of big data in forest ecosystem monitoring, forestry management system development, and forest policy implementation. Findings It demonstrates that big data technology has a great potential in forest ecosystem protection and management, as well as the government’s determination for forest ecosystem protection. However, to deepen the application of big data in forest management, several challenges still need to be tackled. Originality/value Thus, enhancing modern science and technology to improve big data, cloud computing, and information technologies and their combinations will contribute to tackle the challenges and achieve wisdom of forest management.