Forest change information is more widely available than ever before thanks to improvements in computing power, remote sensing science, and data dissemination platforms such as Global Forest Watch. This has led to an abundance of information on when and where forests are being cleared and a proliferation of disturbance alert products that identify forest loss almost in real time. While regularly updated products provide valuable information, the volume and frequency of alerts can lead to ‘alert saturation’, reducing their actionability and making it difficult to identify priority deforestation events for intervention. This technical note describes the Places to Watch workflow, which seeks to address this problem by filtering the millions of disturbance alerts regularly detected and identifying for journalists and activists some of the most concerning instances of recent clearing. We developed this method using an integrated alert product based on three tropical alert systems: Landsat- and Sentinel-based systems from the Global Land Analysis and Discovery lab (GLAD-L and GLAD-S2) at the University of Maryland (UMD) and Wageningen University’s Radar for Detecting Deforestation (RADD). The systems are combined into a single data stream with a spatial resolution of 10 meters. The integrated alert layer has since been updated to include a fourth system, the global vegetation disturbance alerts (DIST-ALERT) from UMD and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, which extends coverage beyond tropical forests to all vegetation globally; however, this workflow focuses on identifying emerging threats to tropical forests. We filter alerts to those occurring inside protected areas that also overlap with at least one of two high-value forest types: primary tropical forests or intact forest landscapes. We then quantify the number of filtered alerts using a 5x5-kilometer grid and sliding window, and we rank the top locations in each region (Africa, Asia, Southeast Asia, Australia, North America, Central America, South America). These locations are identified as Places to Watch. After a curation process with research, contextual data, and satellite imagery interpretation to identify alert drivers, they are shared with Global Forest Watch’s independent journalist partners, triggering investigative reporting on recent deforestation and informing the public. The aim is to highlight globally important forest areas under threat and inspire action as soon as possible to prevent further deforestation.

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