Forest Data Bank

The collected data is systematically supplemented and updated. We store information on forests of all forms of ownership. We compile it and process it and make it possible to interpret it, conduct analyses, forecast the development of forest resources and their use on a macro scale. Likewise, we provide full knowledge about forest and nature resources.

Sustainable forestry requires the provision of comprehensive information on forests of all forms of ownership, information allowing for the assessment of the condition of forests, forest management, and changes occurring in them. To meet this objective, the planning and forecasting system in forestry has been established, the key element of which is the data bank on forest condition and resources (Forest Data Bank abbreviated to BDL in Polish). It is run on commission by the Bureau for Forest Management and Geodesy for the Directorate General of the State Forests. It constitutes the largest and most up-to-date and homogenous set of information on forests of all forms of ownership in Poland, including data coming from the National Forest Inventory (WISL). The information collected in Forest Data Bank is accessible through the means of the Internet website bdl.lasy.gov.pl. Source data on forests managed by the State Forests National Forest Holding can be obtained using an automated access system. The data bank on forest condition and resources also provides map services, thanks to which geospatial data on boundaries of forest areas of all forms of ownership can be displayed in other web portals or used in GIS software.
The systematically collected and updated information in the BDL is also used for the needs of public administration, the timber industry, planning units, science, international reporting, as well as individual users and non-governmental organizations. Yearly, the web portal is visited more than 900,000 times whereas the mobile app has about 120,000 active installations.
An integral part of the Forest Data Bank is mBDL mobile app, available for Android and iOS devices. It has functionalities such as:

• access to maps containing lots of information related to forestry and hunting management;
• forest value description for forests of all forms of ownership;
• operating either online or off-line (after the previous data downloading);
• search for forest compartments, registration plots, and address points;
• other functions /map tools:
  – measuring distances and areas,
  – reading coordinates,
  – navigating to a point,
  – recording of route,
  – saving points,
  – export/import of saved points and routes,
  – uploading own data as SHP/KML/GPX files.