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

International Society for Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering

ISSMGE 1936 London UK B

International Society for Southeast Asian Agricultural Sciences

ISSAAS Los Baños Philippines D

International Society for Subterranean Biology

ISSB 1979 C

International Society for the Curators of Early Maps

ISCEM 1987 Chicago IL USA N

International Society for the History of the Map

ISHMap 2011 C

International Society for the Study of the Origin of Life - International Astrobiology Society

ISSOL 1972 D v

International Society for the Study of Vernacular Settlements

ISVS 1999 Melbourne VIC Australia E c

International Society for Tropical Ecology

ISTE 1956 Varanasi India B

International Society for Vehicle Preservation

1983 Tucson AZ USA N

International Society for Yad Vashem

New York NY USA G

International Society of Animal Clinical Pathology

ISACP 1982 D

International Society of Animal License Collectors

ISALC 1976 Clinton KY USA N

International Society of Arboriculture

ISA 1924 F v

International Society of Artificial Life

ISAL 2001 Portland OR USA D

International Society of Artificial Life and Robotics

ISAROB Oita Japan G

International Society of Chemical Ecology

ISCE 1983 D v

International Society of Citriculture

ISC 1970 Riverside CA USA B v

International Society of Doctors for the Environment

ISDE 1990 Basel Switzerland C v

International Society of Ecoacoustics

ISE J

International Society of Ecological Modelling

ISEM 1975 Severna Park MD USA F

International Society of Ecotoxicology and Environmental Safety

SECOTOX 1972 Neuherberg Germany D

International Society of Environmental Botanists

ISEB 1994 Lucknow India G v

International Society of Environmental Indicators

ISEI Haifa Israel D

International Society of Environmental Micropaleontology, Microbiology and Meiobenthology

ISEMMM 2001 Chennai India D

International Society of Exposure Science

ISES 1989 Kansas City KS USA G v

International Society of Food, Agriculture and Environment

ISFAE 2003 New York NY USA D

International Society of Life Information Science

ISLIS Chiba Japan N

International Society of Mediterranean Ecology

ISOMED 1984 Lisbon Portugal D

International Society of Organic Farming Research

ISOFAR Westerau Germany D

International Society of Paddy and Water Environment Engineering

PAWEES 2003 Nara Japan D

International Society of the Built Environment

ISBE 1989 Nanjing China D v

International Society of Tropical Foresters

ISTF 1950 B y

International Society of Vertebrate Morphology

ISVM 1994 C v

International Society of Zoological Sciences

ISZS 1889 Beijing China E

International Society on Participatory Mapping

ISPM 2017 C

International Soil and Plant Analysis Council

Windsor CO USA E

International Soil Conservation Organization

ISCO 1983 F

International Soil Moisture Network

ISMN Vienna Austria J

International Soil Tillage Research Organization

ISTRO 1973 Tjele Denmark B

International Sol-Gel Society

ISGS 2003 Los Angeles CA USA E

International Sonoran Desert Alliance

ISDA 1994 Ajo AZ USA N

International Space Environment Service

ISES 1962 Boulder CO USA F

International Spill Control Organization

ISCO 1984 London UK D y

International Spirit of Life Foundation

ISLF Silver Spring MD USA N f

International Sport for Life Society

2011 Victoria BC Canada G

International Sport Organization

ISO 2018 Grono Switzerland J v

International Standing Committee of the International Congress on Animal Reproduction

1948 Sydney NSW Australia F cv

International Symposium on Environmental Issues and Waste Management in Energy and Minerals Production

SWEMP S c

International Symposium on Inorganic and Environmental Materials

ISIEM S c

International Symposium on Plant-Soil Interactions at Low PH

PSILPH 1987 S c

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