Forest Products Data Provider · Head-to-head
British Columbia Open Data - Forestry Datasets vs FAO Global Forest Resources Assessment (FRA) Data Platform
Which forest products data provider data fits your job: British Columbia Open Data - Forestry Datasets, or FAO Global Forest Resources Assessment Data Platform. API, files, or your warehouse. Daily, weekly, or hourly.
British Columbia Open Data - Forestry Datasets
FAO Global Forest Resources Assessment (FRA) Data Platform
Where the fields line up
No shared field names. These two answer different questions.
| Field | British Columbia Open Data - Forestry Datasets | FAO Global Forest Resources Assessment Data Platform |
|---|---|---|
title | Dataset title in the catalogue. | not in this set |
name | Stable slug identifying the record within the catalogue. | not in this set |
notes | Full abstract describing what the dataset depicts and how it was derived. | not in this set |
organization.title | Custodian branch responsible for the record. | not in this set |
record_last_modified | Date the catalogue record was last revised. | not in this set |
resources[].format | Format keyword of each attached resource: warehouse custom extract, kml, file geodatabase, csv, xlsx, pdf. | not in this set |
Forest area and forest characteristics | not in this set | documented |
Growing stock (average and total) | not in this set | documented |
Biomass stock | not in this set | documented |
Carbon stock | not in this set | documented |
Forest designation and management type | not in this set | documented |
Forest ownership and management rights | not in this set | documented |
Coverage, side by side
| British Columbia Open Data - Forestry Datasets | FAO Global Forest Resources Assessment Data Platform | |
|---|---|---|
| Geographic | Province of British Columbia, Canada; some layers scoped to individual forest districts | 236 countries and areas published for FRA 2025, on the UN M49 list, with regional aggregates |
| Temporal | Historical to current; Vegetation Resource Inventory series spans 2002-2024; consolidated cutblocks reach back decades | Benchmark years 1990, 2000, 2010, 2015, 2020 and 2025; some tables add 2016-2019 |
| Granularity | Individual polygon features - cutblocks, tenure parcels, forest cover stands - plus provincial summary tables | National-level annual-benchmark values per indicator table; not gridded, not subnational |
What each contains
They tie on 1 attribute. Pick by fit, not by loyalty.
| British Columbia Open Data - Forestry Datasets | FAO Global Forest Resources Assessment Data Platform | |
|---|---|---|
| Publisher | Government of British Columbia - Ministry of Forests branches and BC Timber Sales | Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) |
| Subject lens | Provincial forestry operations: tenures, harvesting, silviculture, vegetation inventory, ranges | Officially reported national forest statistics across nine reporting sections |
| Geography | Province of British Columbia, Canada; some layers scoped to individual forest districts | 236 countries and areas published for FRA 2025, on the UN M49 list, with regional aggregates |
| Temporal coverage | Historical to current; Vegetation Resource Inventory series spans 2002-2024; consolidated cutblocks reach back decades | Benchmark years 1990, 2000, 2010, 2015, 2020 and 2025; some tables add 2016-2019 |
| Granularity | Individual polygon features - cutblocks, tenure parcels, forest cover stands - plus provincial summary tables | National-level annual-benchmark values per indicator table; not gridded, not subnational |
| Scale | ~582 of ~3,358 catalogue records match a forest search; one layer ships as a 555 MB full-province package | 236 country reports x ~18 reporting tables x up to 6 reference years - tens of thousands of observations |
| Documented fields | 10, definitions verified | 8, definitions verified |
| Best for | Operations and supply questions inside one province | Resource-base benchmarks across every producing country |
What each does better
British Columbia Open Data - Forestry Datasets
Geometry, not just totals. The holdings are features you can measure and intersect: forest tenure harvesting-authority polygons, Harvested Areas of BC (Consolidated Cutblocks), FADM timber supply areas and blocks, RESULTS activity treatment units, range tenure polygons, the provincial timber harvesting land base. FRA publishes benchmark totals and deliberately stops there - nothing gridded, nothing subnational.
Documentation that goes all the way down. Spatial resources carry column-level data dictionaries with official definitions straight from the custodian branch, so a SILV_BASE_CODE or an OPENING_ID arrives explained rather than guessed at.
Ten custodian branches behind one search. Forest Tenures Branch and Forest Science, Planning and Practices Branch contribute 65 records apiece, Forest Analysis and Inventory Branch 41, the Thompson Okanagan and Kootenay Boundary regional offices 36 each, plus Range Branch, Forest Improvement and Research Management and BC Timber Sales. Searches return 164 records for 'harvest' and 268 for 'tenure', and the consolidated cutblocks layer alone ships as a 555 MB full-province package - a hint at how many features sit underneath.
FAO Global Forest Resources Assessment Data Platform
The whole world in one methodology. 236 countries and areas reported through national correspondents, with the FRA 2025 cycle launched in October 2025 and nine reporting sections spanning forest extent, growing stock, biomass, carbon, designation and management, ownership, disturbances and non-wood forest products. No provincial catalogue can benchmark Brazil against Finland.
Provenance flags on every value. Each number declares whether it is an original data point entered by correspondents or an estimate imputed by FAO - US forest area for 1990 carries the reported flag, the 2020 figure the estimated flag. Most statistical sources ask for trust; FRA lets you check.
Attributes polygons never carry. Growing stock - Brazil's 117,682 million cubic metres over bark in 2025, of which planted forest accounts for 2,509 - plus biomass, carbon pools and sustainable-development indicators, on a six-benchmark grid reaching back to 1990. The provincial layers describe what happened to specific stands; FRA describes the resource itself, everywhere.
The verdict
Verdict: sample both, pick by fit - the question decides, and because both carry the same 8/10, neither wins on quality. Reach for British Columbia Open Data - Forestry Datasets when the unit of analysis is a feature inside British Columbia: mapping a supply footprint, auditing tenures, measuring harvested area, working district by district. Reach for FAO Global Forest Resources Assessment (FRA) Data Platform when the unit of analysis is a country: sizing the resource base behind a market, testing timber-exposure theses against every producing nation, quoting growing-stock or carbon benchmarks with provenance flags attached. Cut each sample to the jurisdictions, layers and years you actually model, and let the returned rows make the call rather than the brand names.
Sample both, pick by fit. See British Columbia Open Data - Forestry Datasets · See FAO Global Forest Resources Assessment Data Platform
Fair questions
Is British Columbia Open Data - Forestry Datasets better than FAO Global Forest Resources Assessment (FRA) Data Platform?
Different instruments, tied on craft - both score 8/10. British Columbia wins whenever the question is operational and local: cutblock boundaries, tenure parcels, silviculture treatments and timber supply areas inside one province. FRA wins whenever the question is comparative or global: forest extent, growing stock, biomass and carbon for 236 countries on one methodology. Sample both and match each to the job.
Which dataset covers more geography?
FRA, by orders of magnitude: 236 countries and areas published for the FRA 2025 cycle, against a footprint bounded by British Columbia - though some provincial layers scope further down to individual forest districts. If your analysis needs any jurisdiction outside the province, the provincial catalogue cannot serve it; if it needs stand-level features, FRA structurally has none.
Do British Columbia Open Data - Forestry Datasets and FAO Global Forest Resources Assessment (FRA) Data Platform overlap anywhere?
Only conceptually, on forest extent. Canada's national figures sit in FRA's reported tables, while the provincial layers let you measure harvested and vegetated area directly from polygons - a bottom-up estimate rather than a top-down statistic. Elsewhere they complement: national benchmarks above, operational geometry below, joined by nothing fancier than geography and timing.
What can I build by combining them?
Top-down-plus-bottom-up resource models. Take FRA's growing-stock and forest-area benchmarks to frame Canada's position among 236 countries, then use consolidated cutblocks, tenure polygons and the vegetation inventory to quantify activity inside British Columbia. Aggregate the provincial polygons upward, convert to FRA's units, and you have a defensible bridge between reported statistics and observed operations.
Can Datadory deliver both datasets together?
Yes. Request either record alone - the roughly 580-record provincial forestry estate or the nine-section, 236-country assessment - or take both merged onto one calendar. Samples ship first so you can test field dictionaries and coverage against your actual question; ongoing feeds run at whatever cadence your models need.