Tag:natural=wood

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Public-images-osm logo.svg natural = wood
Biogradska suma.jpg
Description
Tree-covered area (a 'forest' or 'wood') Show/edit corresponding data item.
Rendering in OSM Carto
Rendering-area-natural-wood.png
Group: natural
Used on these elements
may be used on nodesshould not be used on waysmay be used on areas (and multipolygon relations)should not be used on relations (except multipolygon relations)
Useful combination
See also
Status: de facto

Tree-covered area (a 'forest' or 'wood'). Used by some mappers to tag only certain woodland areas with limited or no forestry management, but often used for any tree-covered area.

There are major differences in the way this tag and landuse=forest are used by some OpenStreetMap users. Some use this tag to show an area is covered in trees, others use it for woodland not impacted by human maintenance. This problem is explained in the page Forest.

See the page Forest to understand the usage of this tag and landuse=forest.

If your are mapping a forest, understood as a mainly (but not only) wooded area, which is considered in its whole as a single forest, the present tag is to be understood as modelling the physical forest (that is to say, the wooded cover of the area). For the forest in its whole (with its glades, stand variations…), use boundary=forest; for forest compartments, use boundary=forest_compartment.

How to map

Draw an area to match the shape of the woodland and tag it with natural=wood. If an exact match is infeasible then approximate shape is acceptable. As the last resort place a node instead of an area.

Additional tags

  • name=* - name of the woodland
  • leaf_type=broadleaved/needleleaved/mixed - describes the type of leaves / needles
  • leaf_cycle=deciduous/evergreen/mixed - describes the phenology of leaves / needles
  • managed=yes/no - proposed to specifically distinguish managed or unmanaged woodlands
  • operator=* - for managed or protected woodlands (you should probably use boundary=forest+operator, which was designed for some such cases)
  • species=* - for a list of all species (scientific name) in the area
  • genus=* or taxon=* - probably more suitable for wooded surfaces (e.g a oak forest will have the tags genus=Quercus and genus:en=Oak)
  • plant_community=*

Carto rendering of subtags

If leaf_type=* is also set, this can be indicated by appropriate symbols for conifers, deciduous trees and mixed forests.

Tag Rendering Comment Pictures
leaf_type=broadleaved Leaftype broadleaved.png Broadleaved woodland (doesn't mean deciduous). WaldAlfeld.jpg Aerial view of the Amazon Rainforest.jpg
leaf_type=needleleaved Leaftype needleleaved.png Needleleaved woodland. Swiss National Park 131.JPG Pinus canariensis (Barlovento) 06 ies.jpg
leaf_type=mixed Leaftype mixed.png Mixed woodland. Mixed forest-Poland spring.jpg 09272008 BrightonUT.JPG
leaf_type=leafless Leaftype leafless.png Leafless vegetation. Sentinel Peak Tucson Arizona.JPG Saguaro jul04 38.jpg

See also

Tagging mistakes

If you know places with this tag, verify if it could be tagged with another tag.
Automated edits are strongly discouraged unless you really know what you are doing!
If you know places with this tag, verify if it could be tagged with another tag.
Automated edits are strongly discouraged unless you really know what you are doing!
If you know places with this tag, verify if it could be tagged with another tag.
Automated edits are strongly discouraged unless you really know what you are doing!