Background Sweden and the UK together are home to the majority of conifer forest types in Europe. Both countries face significant environmental problems related to the extensive areas of productive forestry. An increased emphasis on sustainability in forestry means that new methods need to be developed for monitoring and planning forestry and forestry operations. Increased use of satellite imaging and web applications are needed to assist in developing forest management plans that also address environmentally sensitive forest areas. The application of new technology in forest management provides increased scope for co-operation between authorities and forestry for efficient control of approved felling operations and for detecting forestry operations as well as natural events, such as storms, that may have adverse effects on the environment. Objectives The overall objective of the project was to further develop methods for securing sustainable forest management including environmental safeguarding. The project aimed to demonstrate ways of preventing environmental accidents in forest operations across a range of European forest types, using new advanced technology. Results The project tested and demonstrated how low-cost satellite imagery can be used for everyday forest management to monitor forest usage, development and re-growth, habitat types, and environmental impacts (e.g. wind damage). The project demonstrated techniques for identifying environmentally important habitats, sensitive areas and important landscape elements and integrated these factors in forest management planning which is part of the regular reporting system that include permission to harvest logs. It also developed methods for communication between forest authorities and forest owners and managers in order to prevent negative effects from forestry operations. The project allowed for satellite data to be evaluated across a range of forest types in Sweden and the UK, many of the techniques developed should be applicable in other parts of Europe, thereby supporting the European Commission GMES (Global Monitoring for Environment and Security) process. The tools developed by this project showed large benefits when estimating the effects of the hurricane in southern Sweden in 2005. Wind-felled trees were detected and located by the new methods, giving authorities and forest managers reliable maps of storm-torn areas. The method can be applied to any type of forest and is unrelated to physical boundaries, allowing for management and supervision of forest resources regardless of distance. As a result, it is very cost effective. The ForestSat conferences started by ForestSafe will continue to be supported by the forest working groups within the European Association of Remote Sensing Laboratories and International Association of Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing. Forest assessments, identifying and monitoring environmental factors is also of fundamental importance for developing countries. The project’s tools will ensure that forest operations do not impact adversely on Natura 2000 sites and water quantity and quality within afforested catchments. Natural hazards such as storm damage provoked extensive discussion within Europe about how to assess the impact of these events quickly and effectively. This project will allow a prototype system to be developed that will share knowledge between EU member states and invited CIT countries.