Tag:natural=wood
 natural = wood
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| Description |
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Tree-covered area (a 'forest' or 'wood') not managed for economic purposes.  
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| Rendering in openstreetmap-carto |
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| Group: Forest |
| Used on these elements |
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| Useful combination |
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| See also |
| Wikidata |
| Q4421 |
| Status: de facto |
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| Tools for this tag |
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Tree-covered area (a 'forest' or 'wood') not managed for economic purposes.
Commonly used tag in case of primary forest (e.g. tropical forests, taiga).
There are major differences in the way this tag and landuse=forest are used by some Openstreetmap users.
Most of mappers use this tag for woodland not impacted by forestry management.
Many mappers use this tag to show wooded land in urban areas.
Others use this tag only for forest of natural origin.
It is also used for any forest, by mappers that are not interested in making distinction between both tags.
In some countries there are special agreements about using these tags which are approved by local communities.
Please see the page Forest to compare the usage of this tag and landuse=forest.
Contents
Tag description
Tag natural=wood is primarily used in less developed or uninhabited regions of the world, often with intact natural environment, such as: Eastern Europe, Latin America or Asia. Almost all wooded areas in these regions are of natural origin; only some wooded areas are managed. In more developed regions such as Western Europe, this tag is used for usually smaller wooded areas like copses or urban woodlands.
Types of wooded areas, for which this tag is commonly used:
- primary forest (e.g. Amazon rainforest, taiga)
- wooded area in wasteland (e.g. woodland on abandoned farmland, woodland on steep slopes between cultivated lands)
- copse of trees (e.g. woodland alongside a river or stream)
- tree-covered land in urban areas (e.g. woodland in residential area, woodland in a park)
In the most broad interpretation, tag natural=wood may be used for every wooded area, while landuse=forest is a tag for wooded areas which are used by humans.
How to map
Draw an area to match shape of woodland and tag it natural=wood. If 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 woodland
- leaf_type=broadleaved/needleleaved/mixed - describes the type of leaves / needles.
- leaf_cycle=deciduous/evergreen/mixed - describes the phenology of leaves / needles.
Rendering
If leaf_type=* is also set, this can be indicated by appropriate symbols for conifers, deciduous trees and mixed forests.
| Tag | Rendering | Comment | Pictures |
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| leaf_type=broadleaved | 
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Broadleaved woodland (doesn't mean deciduous). |  
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| leaf_type=needleleaved | 
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Needleleaved woodland |  _06_ies.jpg)
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| leaf_type=mixed | 
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Mixed woodland. |  
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| leaf_type=leafless | 
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Leafless vegetation |  
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Tagging mistakes
Automated edits are strongly discouraged unless you really know what you are doing!
See also
- Forest for difference to
- leaf_type=* and leaf_cycle=*
- landcover=trees
- When should we use landuse=forest rather than natural=wood? on help.openstreetmap.org
- natural=tree
- natural=scrub
- Habitat
- plant_community=*
- species=* for species (scientific) name
- taxon=* for general scientific name and discussion of recording cover values
- Vegetation - summary of tags for various types of trees and plants
