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

Arab Council for Childhood and Development

ACCD 1987 Cairo Egypt D y

Arab Federation for Food Industries

AFFI 1977 Damascus Syrian AR D t

Arab Federation of Surveyors

2002 Beirut Lebanon D

Arab Forum for Environment and Development

AFED 2006 Beirut Lebanon F y

Arab Foundation for Marine Environment

AFME 1995 Alexandria Egypt F f

Arab Fund for Economic and Social Development

AFESD 1968 Kuwait Kuwait F fg

Arab Geophysical Exploration Services Company

AGESCO 1984 Tripoli Libya F eg

Arab NGO Network for Environment and Development

1990 Cairo Egypt F

Arab Office for Youth and Environment

AOYE 1978 Cairo Egypt G

Arab Society for Fungal Conservation

ASFC 2011 Ismailia Egypt G

Arab Union for Astronomy and Space Sciences

AUASS 1998 Amman Jordan D y

Arab Youth Movement

AYM Nazareth Israel K

Arbeitsgemeinschaft Alpenländer

ARGE ALP 1972 Innsbruck Austria E

Arche Noah

1990 Schiltern Austria N

Architects Regional Council Asia

ARCASIA 1979 Singapore Singapore F

ARCMED

G

Arctic Council

1996 Tromsø Norway D gy

Arctic Council Indigenous Peoples' Secretariat

IPS Tromsø Norway E

Arctic Marine Ecosystem Research Network

ARCTOS Research Network 2002 Tromsø Norway G

Arctic Monitoring and Assessment Programme

AMAP 1991 Tromsø Norway E gy

Arid Lands Information Network - Eastern Africa

ALIN- East Africa 1988 Nairobi Kenya F v

Art Nouveau European Route

ANER 2000 Barcelona Spain F y

Art Restoration for Cultural Heritage Foundation

ARCH Foundation 1991 Salzburg Austria N f

Artefact - Centre for Energy, Appropriate Technology and International Development Cooperation

Glücksburg Germany G

Article 36

2011 London UK G

Artists for Conservation

AFC North Vancouver BC Canada G

Artists Project Earth

APE Banbury UK G

Arts for Global Development

2002 G

ASEAN Agreement on the Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources

1985 T g

ASEAN Centre for Biodiversity

ACB 1999 Los Baños Philippines E

ASEAN Federation of Land Surveying and Geomatics

AFLAG 1995 Kuala Lumpur Malaysia D

ASEAN Forestry Students Association

AFSA 1993 Bangkok Thailand D

ASEAN Specialized Meteorological Centre

ASMC 1993 Singapore Singapore E

ASEAN Working Group on Social Forestry

AWG SF Jakarta Indonesia E g

Asia and the Pacific Policy Society

J

Asia Cohort Consortium

ACC Tokyo Japan D

Asia for Animals Coalition

AfA 2011 Sheung Wan Hong Kong D y

Asia Forest Network

AFN 1987 Tagbilaran City Philippines G

Asia Institute of Urban Environment

AIUE Fukuoka Japan G

Asia Investor Group op Climate Change

AIGCC 2011 E

Asia Network for Sustainable Agriculture and Bioresources

ANSAB 1992 Kathmandu Nepal F

Asia Oceania Geosciences Society

AOGS 2003 Singapore Singapore D

Asia Pacific Association of Educators in Agriculture and Environment

APEAEN 1997 Los Baños Philippines D

Asia Pacific Ecotourism Society

APES 2009 J

Asia Pacific Geoparks Network

APGN Beijing China F

Asia-Oceania Group on Earth Observations

AOGEO 2016 E g

Asia-Pacific Association of Chemical Ecologists

APACE 1997 Otsu Japan D

Asia-Pacific Association of Forestry Research Institutions

APAFRI 1995 Kuala Lumpur Malaysia D y

Asia-Pacific Centre for Environmental Accountability

APCEA 1996 E

Asia-Pacific Centre for Environmental Law, Singapore

APCEL 1996 Singapore Singapore G

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