Tassu: A Mobile GIS App for Monitoring Private Forests in Finland

Background

Finnish Forest Centre annually inspects part of the different forest operations and subsidized improvement projects, e.g. forest use declarations, nature management projects, and forest improvement projects. Inspection sites are selected with:

  • Random sampling
  • Discretion

Solution

Tassu is a custom-built mobile GIS application developed for the Finnish Forest Centre to support the monitoring of legislative responsibilities in private forests.

The application supports 150 users in checking that subsidized improvement project criteria are met and that legislative responsibilities of private forests are followed.

Tassu is built on open-source technologies and deployed using AWS cloud infrastructure. The system includes:

  • Android-native mobile application for fieldwork
  • Web application for planning, reviewing, and managing inspections

The mobile app supports advanced geometry and attribute editing, works seamlessly offline, and integrates with other systems and background layers to ensure smooth information flow. Arbonaut was responsible for the full end‑to‑end system development.

Application for Suomen metsäkeskus

Tassu user interface

Online platform for legislative purposes

What users can do in the field:

  • Select and send inspection tasks from the office to the mobile device
  • View, add, and edit attribute data for each inspection
  • Create and edit geometries (points, lines, polygons) with full GPS support
  • Collect sample-plot data, including plot design, field measurements, and automatic stand‑level calculations
  • Attach photos to inspection records
  • Access field instructions directly in the app
  • Sync collected data back to the server for review and reporting

The TASSU application simplifies field inspections and ensures that forest management data is accurate, consistent, and up to date.

“Collecting complexly structured field inspection data is efficient with Tassu application.” — Tapani Hämäläinen, Chief Digital Officer, Finnish Forest Centre.

Outcomes

Tassu was equipped with features to make field inspections easier, specifically under the new METKA law. The law came into force 1 January, 2024 and classified what types of activities are subsidized:

  • Nuoren metsän hoito (young stand improvement)
  • Terveyslannoitus (forest vitality fertilization)
  • Kulotus (controlled burning)
  • Metsätalouden tieverkko (forest roads network)
  • Tietarkastukset (road inspections)
  • Suometsänhoito (management of swamp forests)
  • Suometsän hoitosuunnitelma (management plan of swamp forests)
  • Ympäristötuki (environmental support for forestry)
  • Luonnonhoito (support for forest nature management projects)