Everyone knows the philosophical puzzle about the tree falling down in a forest: if no-one is around to hear it, does it make a sound? It doesn't – at least, not in the world of real forests and real deforestation.

Lack of accurate, timely data means it can take months for word of large-scale felling to get out. By the time the authorities arrive to investigate, the damage is done.

A new global mapping service promises to change all that. Launched today, Global Forest Watch is pitched as the world's first monitoring tool providing 'near real time' data on changes in forest cover. The brainchild of the World Resources Institute (WRI), a US-based environment non-profit, the web-based service is free to access, global in scope and simple to use.

"What is new here is that we're taking an enormous amount of complex and very confusing information and making it accessible to everyone, everywhere. You don't need a PhD in astrophysics to understand Global Forest Watch", explained Nigel Sizer, director of WRI's Global Forest Initiative.

For data-hungry forest lovers, it's like all their Christmases at once. With the latest satellite data at the touch of a laptop button, users of Global Forest Watch can home in on any corner of the planet and see exactly when and where deforestation is occurring. The pixel definition is so good for some biomes that individual trees can be identified.

The tool comes equipped with a set of powerful algorithms developed by Google (one of WRI's key partners on the initiative). The software allows user to cut and splice the information however they like: by forest type, by time period, by logging concession, by protected areas, and so forth.

The implications for business are potentially huge as well. Recent years have seen the private sector slowly begin to acknowledge its role in fuelling deforestation. Back in 2010, for instance, the Consumer Goods Forum, which represents over 400 multinational retailers and manufacturers, promised to "mobilise resources" to achieve zero-deforestation by 2020.

Although companies would never say as much, achieving these goals without accurate data is nigh on impossible. Nestlé's experience is illustrative. In line with its zero-deforestation goal, the Swiss food and beverage giant set about collating publicly available forest cover data two years ago. What it found was patchy at best, so it put together 20 of its own country-based maps.

Compared to the level of detail on the Global Forest Watch portal, Nestlé concedes that its maps (launched only a year ago) are "rudimentary". WRI's new tool represents a "major, major step forward", said Duncan Pollard, Nestlé's head of stakeholder engagement in sustainability. "It is going to change certainly the way we do business", he added. But change it how, exactly? Primarily, in terms of risk management. As WRI's Sizer explained: "If you're a Unilever, say … and you see this (recent deforestation) on a map, you're immediately going to call up the (offending) company and talk about what's going on."

It's a view echoed by Ben Vreeburg, director of sustainability at IOI Loders Croklaan, a Netherlands-based palm oil trading firm. Vreeburg insists IOI will use the tool to directly engage suppliers linked to deforestation. On the flip side, IOI will consider shifting procurement to suppliers with clean records.

In addition, WRI is talking with individual corporations about integrating its mapping service into their internal procurement systems. The Washington DC-based research institute plans to focus its initial efforts on the supply chains of four commodities with especially strong links to deforestation: palm oil, pulp and paper, beef and soya.

Disruptive as the Global Forest Watch may well prove, it's no panacea. 'Near' real-time data is daily in the case of fire-related forest damage, but only annual when it comes to high-definition data on global tree cover loss (though information on the humid tropics is updated on a monthly basis).

Companies' own ignorance is the initiative's real Achilles heel, however. Large corporate buyers often have very little knowledge about where their raw materials come from, especially in the case of agricultural commodities. Without that information, it's difficult to know where on the map they should look.

IOI's Veerburg acknowledges that lack of traceability marks a major problem. Despite a year-long exercise to map its own supply chain, IOI still doesn't know where 25% of its palm oil purchases come from. Improving supply-side transparency is imperative going forward, he argued: "It is something we must do to improve the image of our industry."

WRI's new tool may just chivvy such transparency along a bit. As well as top-down data, the service enables individuals on the ground to share their own information. So a local scientist might choose to post a detailed study of a forest's biodiversity, for example. Equally, an activist campaigner has the ability to upload evidence of labour abuses linked to a plantation.

Companies with clean supply chains have nothing to fear, said WRI's Sizer: "If you're illegally burning and clearing in protected areas adjacent to your concessions, however, this is designed to draw attention to that and enable everyone to see."