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The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are goals created by the United Nations in 2015 in order to provide a detailed framework for public, private, and civil society actors globally to bring about significant and transformative change towards a world that works for 100% of humanity and the planet as a whole.
In this article, we will show you what is the fifteenth of these goals (the SDG about life on land) and its importance!
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What is Goal 15 of the SDGs?
The fifteenth goal of the SDGs is aimed at protecting, restoring, and promoting the sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems, sustainably managing forests, stopping and reversing land degradation, combating desertification, and stopping biodiversity loss.
What is the importance of the life on land SDG?
31 % of the world’s surface is covered with forests. These provide humanity with the basic elements needed for survival: air, food, and water. The forests are home to approximately 80 % of all terrestrial species, including animals, plants, and insects and 1.6 billion people depend on forests for their basic survival needs. Even with such importance, humanity cuts down 13 million hectares of forest each year.
Notwithstanding the efforts to achieve the goals for this objective, the prospects are not good, with the terrestrial ecosystem conservation not tending to be sustainable, with species continuing to disappear at an alarming rate and protected species on their path to extinction.
What types of policies are in line with Goal 15?
The types of policies that are in line with the life on land SDG are:
- Policies aimed at ensuring the conservation, restoration and sustainable use of terrestrial and inland freshwater ecosystems and their services, in particular forests, wetlands, mountains and drylands, in line with obligations under international agreements;
- Policies aimed at promoting the implementation of sustainable management of all types of forests, halting deforestation, restoring degraded forests and substantially increasing afforestation and reforestation globally;
- Policies aimed at combating desertification, restoring degraded land and soil, including land affected by desertification, drought and floods, and striving to achieve a land degradation-neutral world;
- Policies aimed at ensuring the conservation of mountain ecosystems, including their biodiversity, in order to enhance their capacity to provide benefits that are essential for sustainable development.
All the SDGs in one glimpse
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