Zimbabwe is host to five distinct woodland types — rich, biologically diverse ecosystems under increasing pressure from settlement and agricultural expansion. Yet forests remain essential as carbon sinks, for ecological well-being and for economic development. Accurate, timely data is the foundation on which sustainable resource management is built.
Five Woodland Types
Each represents a distinct ecosystem — with its own species, climate niche and ecological role.
What counts as deforestation?
Deforestation refers to the conversion of forest to other land uses — such as agriculture or infrastructure. Unlike net forest area change, which accounts for both gains and losses, deforestation only measures permanent conversion.
FAO, 2020The numbers behind Zimbabwe’s forests
In 2021, Zimbabwe adopted and validated a national definition of forest — including woodland and bushland areas — bringing classification into line with land-use reality on the ground.
How forest types are defined
Three precise classifications used in national reporting — each with a minimum area, tree height and canopy cover threshold.
Woodland
- Minimum area0.3 ha
- Tree height≥ 5 m
- Canopy cover≥ 10%
Bushland
- Minimum area0.3 ha
- Tree height< 5 m
- Canopy cover≥ 10%
National Forest Definition
- Minimum area≥ 0.3 ha
- Tree height> 3 m
- Canopy cover≥ 10%
Drivers of Deforestation & Degradation
A national study was conducted under the STZ–NDC project — Zimbabwe’s Nationally Determined Contributions — led by the Climate Change Management Department with support from UNDP and the Russian Trust Fund. The study combined satellite-image analysis with stakeholder consultations, identifying deforestation hotspots in every province, particularly in rural, resettlement and peri-urban areas.
What removes the trees
Activities that physically clear forest — ten primary causes identified across the country.
What enables it
Underlying conditions that allow direct drivers to persist — the systemic level.
Poverty, household energy needs and livelihood pressures.
Unclear or insecure land and resource tenure.
Drought, fire risk and changing rainfall patterns.
Policy direction, enforcement gaps and coordination.
Permanent Sample Plots (PSPs)
Long-term research sites established between 1994 and 1997 in gazetted forests — providing growth-and-yield data critical to sustainable forest management. Each site is remeasured every 5 years; the most recent collection was in 2021.
Seven gazetted forests
Three new monitoring sites
Mapping & Validation
Three flagship projects giving the Forestry Commission a clearer, more current view of national forest resources.
Zimbabwe Biomass Map
The Mapping & Inventory Unit collaborated with the University of Edinburgh to develop a national biomass map using satellite data, estimating vegetation biomass across the country.
2020 Land Cover Map
Developed using Sentinel-2 satellite imagery, interpreted and processed using Google Earth Engine’s cloud computing platform.
Field Validation Exercise
Field validation was conducted between November and December 2021, using the Open Data Kit (ODK) for data collection. Over 50,000 Collect Earth sample points were analysed to enhance map accuracy.