Management policy for sustainable development depends on timely and credible information. National programs are being launched throughout the government to develop reliable methods and systems to monitor and report the state of Canada's forests. In this context, the Forestland Disturbances Monitoring and Mapping for Sustainable Development Planning and Reporting project is developing innovative monitoring and mapping approaches that will provide accepted and standard methods to deliver consistent information to support Canada's sustainable development strategy.

A primary task in the implementation of NRCan's Sustainable Development Strategy is to expand and improve our knowledge of natural resources development. The Sustainable Development for Knowledge Integration (SDKI) project is contributing to its implementation by developing and applying innovative approaches to systematically map forest landscape disturbances. By fusing earth observation imagery, geo-spatial information, and geo-statistical detail, different sources of information are integrated to produce a more comprehensive report. This project focuses on two types of disturbances: those due to natural threats (e.g., fire and insects) and those resulting from anthropogenic activities (e.g. deforestation, harvesting).