Redistribution of the map: digitized forest cover of Flanders on the Ferraris maps (1771-1778), update 2021

This polygon layer depicts the forest cover on the Ferraris maps (1771-1778). It is highly suitable as a supplement to the forest age map or for specific research, such as locating deforestation. Its use for detailed studies is strongly discouraged, except for field surveys, as, the Ferraris maps exhibit significant positional errors. It is important to keep in mind that the Ferraris maps are a snapshot in time, like all other maps, and that land use in Flanders was already highly dynamic before 1800. Locations marked as forest on the Ferraris maps are therefore not necessarily 'never cleared' forest areas. A small part of present-day Flanders (Lommel, a section of Voeren, Westouter), did not belong to the Austrian Netherlands when the Ferraris maps were drawn up and is consequently not shown on these maps.