Global Civil Society & the UN Sustainable Development Goals

Goal 15: Sustainably manage forests, combat desertification, halt and reverse land degradation, halt biodiversity loss

Life on Land


Goal 15 is about conserving life on land. It is to protect and restore terrestrial ecosystems, sustainably manage forests, combat desertification, and halt and reverse land degradation and stop biodiversity loss.

Earth’s ecosystems are vital for sustaining human life, they contribute to over half of global GDP and encompass diverse cultural, spiritual, and economic values.

However, the world is facing a triple crisis of climate change, pollution and biodiversity loss.

Between 2015 and 2019, at least 100 million hectares of healthy and productive land were degraded every year, impacting the lives of 1.3 billion people.

Agricultural expansion is the direct driver of almost 90 per cent of deforestation. This is in direct relation to our food systems, and oil palm harvesting accounted for 7 per cent of global deforestation from 2000 to 2018.

Global and regional efforts to sustain forest ecosystems as well as their social, economic and environmental functions are essential, in particular for developing countries and the tropics.

We need to shift humanity’s relationship with nature to achieve Goal 15, and realise that nature is the root of our life of earth. The recently adopted Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework provides renewed impetus for Goal 15, outlining four outcome- oriented goals to be achieved by 2050 and 23 targets to be achieved by 2030.

Name Acronym Founded City HQ Country/Territory HQ Type I Type II

Plant a Tree in Africa

PATIA Swindon UK N

Plant With Purpose

1984 San Diego CA USA G

Plant-for-the-Planet Foundation

2010 Tutzing Germany F f

Planta Europa

Uppsala Sweden F y

Plantlife

1989 Salisbury UK G

PMU Interlife

1965 Stockholm Sweden G

Polis - International Network in Environmental Education

INEE 1994 Ermoúpolis Greece F

Political Ecology Network

POLLEN 2015 Frederiksberg Denmark F

Pontifical Academy for Life

1994 Rome Italy E v

Pontifical Commission for Sacred Archeology

1852 Vatican City Vatican E v

Population and Community Development Association

PDA 1974 Bangkok Thailand G

Population Environment Research Network

PERN 2001 Palisades NY USA E

Ports Environmental Network-Africa

PENAf Rotterdam Netherlands G

Preferred by Nature

1994 Copenhagen Denmark F

PREPARE Network

1989 Timisoara Romania F

Primate's World Relief and Development Fund

PWRDF 1959 Toronto ON Canada G f

Prince Bernhard Centre for International Nature Conservation

Utrecht Netherlands G

Principles Governing the Use by States of Artificial Earth Satellites for International Direct Television Broadcasting

1982 T g

Principles Relating to Remote Sensing of the Earth from Outer Space

1986 T g

Prison Fellowship International

PFI 1979 Washington DC USA F

Private Investors for Africa

PIA 2001 Brussels Belgium J

Pro Patrimonio

National Trust of Romania 2000 London UK F

Pro Regenwald

1988 Munich Germany G

PRO SILVA

1989 Feldkirchen in Kärnten Austria D

Pro-Natura International

1986 Brooklyn NY USA F

Proact International

Usti nad Labem Czechia N

Probe International

Toronto ON Canada G

Professionals in Humanitarian Assistance and Protection

PHAP 2010 Brussels Belgium F t

Programme on Man and the Biosphere

MAB 1971 Paris France F g

Programme régional de Conservation de la zone Côtière et Marine en Afrique de l'Ouest

PRCM Nouakchott Mauritania E

Project Survival Pacific

PSP Carlton VIC Australia G

PROLINNOVA

1999 Amsterdam Netherlands E

Protect Our Winters Europe

POW 2020 Innsbruck Austria F

Protection mondiale des animaux de ferme

PMAF 1994 Metz France G

Protection of the Arctic Marine Environment

PAME 1993 Akureyri Iceland E g

ProTerra Foundation

2012 Utrecht Netherlands F f

Protocol Agreement on the Conservation of Common Natural Resources

1982 T g

Protocol Amending the Convention for the Prevention of Marine Pollution from Land-based Sources, Kuwait

1990 Safat Kuwait T g

Protocol Amending the Convention for the Prevention of Marine Pollution from Land-based Sources, Paris

1986 T g

Protocol Amending the International Convention for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas, 1984

1984 Rome Italy T g

Protocol Amending the International Convention for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas, 1992

1992 Rome Italy T g

Protocol Concerning Mediterranean Specially Protected Areas

1982 T g

Protocol Concerning Pollution from Land-based Sources and Activities

1999 Kingston Jamaica T g

Protocol Concerning Protected Areas and Wild Fauna and Flora in the Eastern African Region

1985 Victoria Seychelles T g

Protocol Concerning Specially Protected Areas and Biological Diversity in the Mediterranean

Barcelona protocol 1995 Athens Greece T g

Protocol Concerning Specially Protected Areas and Wildlife to the Convention for the Protection and Development of the Marine Environment of the Wider Caribbean Region

1990 Kingston Jamaica T g

Protocol for the Conservation and Management of Protected Marine and Coastal Areas of the Southeast Pacific

1989 Quito Ecuador T g

Protocol for the Implementation of the Alpine Convention in the Field of Mountain Forests

1996 T g

Protocol for the Implementation of the Alpine Convention in the Field of Nature Protection and Landscape Conservation

1994 T g

Protocol for the Protection of the Mediterranean Sea against Pollution from Land-Based Sources and Activities

LBS Protocol 1980 T g

Pages