Create an EUDR GeoJSON file from Google Earth (KML/KMZ)
Draw plot boundaries in Google Earth Pro, save them as KML, and turn them into a GeoJSON file the EU Information System accepts, step by step.
In short
- Draw each plot as a polygon. In Google Earth Pro, use Add › Polygon (not Path) and click round the plot boundary. Name it after the plot: the name becomes ProductionPlace.
- Keep plots together in one folder. Put all the plots for one file in a folder under My Places. Small plots can be placemarks (pins) instead of polygons.
- Save the folder as KML or KMZ. Right-click the folder › Save Place As…, and choose KML or KMZ.
- Convert and check. Open the file in the KML converter or the checker. It is converted to GeoJSON in your browser and checked against every rule.
- Add what Google Earth does not know. Add ProducerName, ProducerCountry and, for points, Area, in the checker's editor, or as columns in your source before converting.
- Download the GeoJSON. Fix anything the checker reports, then download the GeoJSON file.
Google Earth is where a lot of EUDR geolocation starts: it is free, it has satellite imagery everywhere, and drawing round a field takes a minute. Its files are KML, not GeoJSON, and they carry a few habits the Information System does not like. This guide gets from one to the other.
Before you draw: points or polygons?
The regulation lets a plot of four hectares or less be a single point; above four hectares, except for cattle, it has to be a polygon describing the perimeter (Regulation (EU) 2023/1115, Art. 2(28)). If you are not sure of a plot's size, draw the polygon and the area calculator will tell you.
Drawing plots that pass
- Use Add › Polygon, not Add › Path. Both look like an outline on screen, but a path is saved as a line, which is not accepted as a production place (GeoJSON File Description, Definitions). When we convert a KML, a path that ends within 20 m of where it started is read as a boundary and closed, and we tell you, but a proper polygon avoids the question.
- Go round once. Click the corners in order around the edge. Crossing back over your own line makes a figure eight, which is rejected.
- Do not draw holes. If there is a pond or a house inside the plot, draw the plot around it as two pieces instead: polygons with holes are rejected (GeoJSON File Description, Common errors 15).
- Zoom in. Corners placed at a wide zoom level can be tens of metres off.
What the converter does with your KML
| In Google Earth | In the GeoJSON |
|---|---|
| Placemark or polygon name | ProductionPlace |
| Description fields named farmer, producer, country, area and similar | ProducerName, ProducerCountry, Area |
| Altitude (the third number after every point) | Dropped: it does not change where the plot is, and it adds size |
| Styles, icons, colours | Dropped |
| Folders | Flattened: every plot becomes one feature |
Every one of these decisions is listed after conversion, and recorded in the change log and the PDF report. Coordinates in KML are always WGS 84 degrees, which is what the Information System requires (GeoJSON File Description, Introduction), so no reprojection is needed.
Adding producer details
Google Earth has no idea who farms a plot. For a single producer's file (Type I) that is
fine; for a file covering several producers (Type II), every plot needs a
ProducerCountry; see Type I and Type II. The
simplest place to add them is the checker's editor after conversion; the map shows
which plot you are editing.
Sources
- EUDR GeoJSON File Description (EUDR Information System help, updated 17 August 2026), Introduction, European Commission
- EUDR GeoJSON File Description (EUDR Information System help, updated 17 August 2026), Definitions, European Commission
- Regulation (EU) 2023/1115 (the EU Deforestation Regulation), Art. 2(28), Official Journal of the European Union, L 150, 9.6.2023
Last verified against these sources on .