Africover Data Access Policies

There are 2 different types of data sets:

1. Full resolution data sets
2. Public domain data sets

A specific access policy has been developed for each of them in the framework of the Guidelines for custodianship.

The access to the full resolution data can be granted only with the aggrement of the NFPI that is the custodian for the specific data set. A request for the full resolution data set or for a geographic subset of it can be submitted through this website starting from the metadata who describes the data set. The request that must be motivated will be sent to the NFPI that will have the responsability to approve or reject it.

The access to the public domain data set is provided for non commercial pourposes free of charge by FAO Africover. Individual users or commercial organizations are not allowed to access the Africover data unless previous official approval from the respective National Focal Point Institution is acquired.
Access and use of the public domain data sets is provided through this web site and is ruled by a specific User Agreement that must be accepted by the user before proceeding to the download.

As a part of the agreement for the use and access to the public domain data, on the base of the principle of reciprocity, the user is requested to share with FAO Africover and the NFPI any validated value added to the data: this comprises for example the detection of any errors, the outcomes of applications generated with the data and updates of the original data.

Accessing Africover data

To discover how to access the different Africover products see the data dissemination scheme.

Public domain Africover data

The MADE is based on a methodology that allows for multiple uses and views of the GIS land cover data base.

Africover distributes a spatially aggregated version of the land cover data base and provides some thematic aggregations as well.

Thematic aggregations are also pubblic domain data and can be accessed from the metadata of the spatially aggregated data sets.

To understand the difference between spatial and thematic aggregations visit the section dedicated to aggregations or the technical insight on Africover methodology.