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

AlpArray

F

Alpine Ibex European Specialist Group

GSE-AIESG 1988 Turin Italy E

Alternet

Brussels Belgium F y

Amazon Center for Environmental Education and Research

ACEER 1991 G

Amazon Conservation Association

ACA 1999 Washington DC USA G

Amazon Conservation Team

ACT Falls Church VA USA G

Amazon Cooperation Treaty Organization

ACTO 1998 Brasilia Brazil D g

Amazon International Rainforest Reserve

AIRR 1991 Dallas TX USA N

Amazon Watch

1996 Oakland CA USA G

Ambulances animaux sans frontières

Ambulances ASF 1994 Brussels Belgium G

AME World Ecology Foundation

1976 Sao Paulo Brazil G f

Amendments to the Protocol for the Protection of the Mediterranean Sea Against Pollution from Land-based Sources and Activities

1996 T g

American Academy of Environmental Medicine

AAEM 1965 Wichita KS USA N v

American Fisheries Society

AFS 1870 Bethesda MD USA G v

American Near East Refugee Aid

ANERA 1968 Washington DC USA G

AmeriGEOSS

2014 E g

amfori

1977 Brussels Belgium D

Amphibian Ark

AArk 2007 Apple Valley MN USA E y

Amphibian Survival Alliance

ASA 2011 Austin TX USA C

Analysis and Experimentation on Ecosystems

AnaEE-ERIC 2022 Gif-sur-Yvette France E

Ancient Forest International

AFI 1990 Redway CA USA G

Ancient Tree Forum

ATF 1993 Bristol UK N

Andean Institute of Ecology and Development

Cusco Peru G j

Andean-Patagonian Forestry Research and Advisory Centre

1988 Esquel Argentina G

Animal Ambassadors International

AAI Santa Fe NM USA N

Animal Assisted Intervention International

AAII 2013 Groesbeek Netherlands C y

Animal Defenders International

ADI 1990 London UK G

Animal Equality

2006 Los Angeles CA USA F

Animal Liberation Front

ALF 1976 Los Angeles CA USA F

Animal Medical Care Foundation

AMCF Dongen Netherlands N f

Animal Production and Health Commission for Asia and the Pacific

APHCA 1975 Bangkok Thailand E g

Animal Traction Network for Eastern and Southern Africa

ATNESA 1990 Nairobi Kenya F

Animal Transportation Association

ATA 1975 Terra Alta WV USA F

Animal Venom Research International

AVRI Pasadena CA USA N

Animal-Kind International

AKI 2007 Jemez Springs NM USA G

Animals Asia Foundation

AAF 1998 Sheung Wan Hong Kong F f

Animals without Frontiers - International

AWF-International 1987 Brussels Belgium G

Annual Meeting in Conservation Genetics

2015 S c

Antarctic and Southern Ocean Coalition

ASOC 1978 Washington DC USA F y

Antarctic Treaty

AT 1959 Buenos Aires Argentina F g

Anti-Persoonsmijnen Ontmijnende Productontwikkeling

APOPO 1998 Antwerp Belgium G

Ape Alliance

1996 Stroud UK F y

Apiculture, Formation, Coopération

AFOCO La Louvière Belgium N

ApiTrade Africa

2008 Kampala Uganda D t

AquaConSoil

S c

Aquatic Ecosystem Health and Management Society

AEHMS 1989 C

Aquaverde

2002 Geneva Switzerland G

Arab Beekeeping Association

J

Arab Centre for the Studies of Arid Zones and Dry Lands

ACSAD 1968 Damascus Syrian AR E g

Arab Company for Livestock Development

ACOLID 1974 Riyadh Saudi Arabia F eg

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