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

Asociación Latinoamericana de Parques Zoológicos y Acuarios

ALPZA 1990 Santiago Chile D

Asociación Latinoamericana de Veterinarios de Fauna Silvestre

ALVEFAS J

Asociación Latinoamericana para el Desarrollo del Seguro Agropecuario

ALASA 1986 Santa Fé Argentina D

Asociación Latinoamericana para la Producción Animal

ALPA 1966 Calgary AB Canada D

Asociación Medioambiental Internacional de Gestores del Olor

AMIGO Bilbao Spain D

Asociación Panamericana de Ingenieros Agrónomos

APIA 1994 Tandil Argentina D

Asociación Panamericana de Profesionales de la Agrimensura y Topografia

APPAT 1999 D

Asociación Panamericana para la Conservación

APPC 2005 Colón Panama G

Asociación para la Conservación de la Cuenca Amazónica

ACCA 1999 Lima Peru G

Aspen Global Change Institute

AGCI 1989 Basalt CO USA G j

Assembly of European Wine Regions

AREV 1988 Brussels Belgium F

Associação SOS Amazonia

1988 Rio Branco Brazil G

Association de Promotion de l'Organisation Mondiale de l'Environnement

APOME Brussels Belgium J

Association des constructeurs pour la réhabilitation et l'optimalisation de la terre

ACROTERRE 1985 Grenoble France N

Association des Echanges Méditerranéens pour l'eau, la forêt, l'énergie, et le développement durable des territoires

AEM 2000 Paris France D

Association des Jeunes Volontaires au Service du Monde Environnemental

AJVSME 2011 Lomé Togo G

Association for AgriCulture and Ecology

Agrecol 1982 Göttingen Germany G

Association for Applied Animal Andrology

AAAA Calgary AB Canada C

Association for Better Land Husbandry

ABLH 1993 Nairobi Kenya G

Association for Environmental Archaeology

AEA 1979 G v

Association for Environmentally Friendly Carpets

1990 Aachen Germany D

Association for Fire Ecology

AFE 2000 Eugene OR USA D

Association for Forest Spatial Analysis Technologies

ForestSAT 2015 E c

Association for Heritage Preservation of the Americas

APOYOnline 1989 Rockville MD USA G v

Association for Learning Environments

A4LE 1921 Scottsdale AZ USA G

Association for Plant Breeding for the Benefit of Society

APBREBES 2009 Lausanne Switzerland C y

Association for Smart Learning Ecosystem and Regional Development

ASLERD D

Association for the Study of Animal Behaviour

ASAB 1936 Rovereto Italy C v

Association for the Taxonomic Study of the Flora of Tropical Africa

1950 D v

Association for Tree-Ring Research

ATR 2002 Wageningen Netherlands D

Association for Tropical Biology and Conservation

ATBC 1963 C

Association for Vertical Farming

AVF Munich Germany J

Association Forêt Méditerranéenne

1978 Marseille France G

Association François-Xavier Bagnoud

FXB International 1989 Geneva Switzerland G

Association Internationale de la Femme Marocaine à l'Étranger

AIFME 2008 Sevran France G

Association Internationale des Skål Clubs

AISC 1934 Torremolinos Spain B

Association internationale forêts méditerranéennes

AIFM 1996 Marseille France D

Association internationale pour l'étude des argiles

AIPEA 1948 C

Association internationale pour l'oeuvre du docteur Albert Schweitzer de Lambaréné

AISL 1930 Gunsbach France E

Association Internationale Pour les Femmes du Karité

2021 Oullins France J

Association internationale villes et ports - réseau mondial des villes portuaires

AIVP 1988 Le Havre France D

Association Justice and Environment, z.s.

J&E 2003 Brno Czechia F y

Association of ACP National Chambers of Commerce, Industry and Other Economic Operators

ACP Chambers 1981 Brussels Belgium D t

Association of Arid Lands Studies

AALS 1977 Lubbock TX USA G

Association of Caribbean Beekeepers Organisations

ACBO 2002 Hope Village Trinidad-Tobago E

Association of Charity Lotteries in Europe

ACLEU 2007 Amsterdam Netherlands D

Association of Chemistry and the Environment

ACE 2000 Nova Gorica Slovenia D

Association of Environmental and Resource Economists

AERE 1979 Altamonte Springs FL USA G

Association of Esperantist Greens

AEG 1984 Bonn Germany E

Association of European Experts in Building and Construction (The)

AEEBC 1990 Haywards Heath UK D

Pages