Under the conditions of a global reduction in forest areas and climate change, it is important to preserve as many tree-covered areas as possible and understand change trends. The article purpose – aims at identifying forest area change trends of 19th –20th c. in the current forest land of the eldership Raudonė. In the research, historical topographic maps compiled during different periods, and 2019 data from the forest registry are used. The research method of a comparative analysis is employed. The change in forest areas was analysed, and forest areas that remained unchanged for 200 years were identified. The comparison of current forest areas reflected in the cadastral data and forest areas of the considered period allowed identifying the tendency of assigning land the purpose of forest land. During the research, the period with largest forest areas was determined to be the 19th c., and with the smallest – 1st half of the 20th c. During the Soviet period, forests areas were increasing, but did not achieve the same level as in the 19th c.

All land of the Republic of Belarus can be classified by categories (7 categories), types of lands (14 types), land users, forms of ownership and types of rights to land plots. The total area of land in the Republic of Belarus is 20760 thousand hectares, including agricultural land occupies 9103.0 thousand hectares (43.8%) of the total area of the republic; settlements, horticultural associations, dacha cooperatives – 849.0 thousand hectares (4.1%); industry, transport, communications, energy, defence and other purposes – 622.2 thousand hectares (3.0%); environmental, health, recreational, historical and cultural purposes – 868.7 thousand hectares (4.2%); forest fund – 8656.4 thousand hectares (41.7%); water fund – 37.3 thousand hectares (0.2%); reserve land – 623.4 thousand hectares (3.0%). The basis of the land resources used in the agro-industrial complex of the republic is arable land, meadows and land under permanent crops, which in general occupy 8387.1 thousand hectares, or 40.4% of the total area of land. The state owns 20683.6 thousand hectares (99.63%) of land, private property – 76.4 thousand hectares (0.37%) of the total area of all lands of the republic. In terms of environmental stability, the territory of the republic belongs to medium-stable territories, the coefficient of environmental stability is 0.63, and in terms of the degree of anthropogenic load – to territories with a relatively low anthropogenic load, the coefficient of anthropogenic load is 2.79.

The article shows that the rapid technological changes in the field of topographic, geodetic and cadastral activities that have occurred in recent decades, significantly affect the nature and content of work to be performed by future engineers in the field of geodesy and land surveying. The directions of adaptation of the content of geodetic and land surveying education to the needs of the national and world market of engineering services are considered. Global navigation satellite system (GNSS), laser 3D-scanning and operational mapping using unmanned aerial vehicles will have a decisive impact on the development of the industry in the near future. Paper maps are being replaced by multimedia devices that display dynamic map content tailored to a specific consumer. During the study, the student must get acquainted with all the most advanced technologies that will determine the future of the industry in the medium term to be ready for their practical application. A modern university lecture should be designed so that the student can hear only what he or she cannot find on the Internet. The aim of the article is to try to comprehensively generalize and analyse global trends and prospects for the development of topographic and geodetic, cadastral, registration and evaluation activities, as well as to determine on this basis the adaptation of geodetic and land management education to the needs of national and global engineering services.