The EU Deforestation Regulation asks a simple question with a demanding answer: where, precisely, did this come from? For each plot of land that produced the cattle, cocoa, coffee, palm oil, rubber, soya, or wood in your product, you must supply geolocation. That geolocation goes into your due diligence statement and is submitted through TRACES.
Points versus polygons
The size of the plot decides the geometry:
- Below 4 hectares: a single point (longitude, latitude) is allowed, and it must carry the plot Area.
- 4 hectares or more: a polygon of the plot boundary is required. A point is rejected for these.
The coordinate rules
- WGS84 (EPSG:4326) degrees, not a projected grid.
- Longitude then latitude, per GeoJSON.
- Around 6 decimal places of precision, roughly a tenth of a metre, which is what the format expects.
It all lands in a GeoJSON
Requirements on paper become a file in practice: a GeoJSON FeatureCollection where each plot is a Feature with its geometry and properties, following the EUDR GeoJSON File Description v1.5. If the file does not match, TRACES rejects it regardless of how accurate your coordinates are.
Get the file right, not just the coordinates
Operators often have perfectly good coordinates but a malformed file: an open ring, a projected CRS, precision that is too high, a point where a polygon is needed. Those are file problems, and they are fixable in seconds rather than a survey.
Common questions
Do I need a polygon for every plot?
Only for plots of 4 hectares or more. Below 4 hectares a single point with an Area value is allowed.
How precise must coordinates be?
About 6 decimal places in WGS84 degrees. That is the precision the EUDR GeoJSON format expects.
Validate your plot file free
See whether every plot meets the geolocation requirements, then repair the file with one click.
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