Goal 15 Facts and Figures

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. Healthy ecosystems and the biological diversity they support are a source of food, water, medicine, shelter and other material goods. They also provide ecosystem services – the cleaning of air and water – which sustain life and increase resiliency in the face of mounting pressures.

Nevertheless, human activities have profoundly altered most terrestrial ecosystems: around 40,000 species are documented to be at risk of extinction over the coming decades, 10 million hectares of forest (an area the size of Iceland) are being destroyed each year, and more than half of key biodiversity areas remain unprotected.

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Forest cover fell from 31.9 ?per cent of total land area in 2000 to 31.2 per cent in 2020, a net loss of almost 100 ?million hectares.

Agricultural expansion is driving almost 90 per cent of global deforestation, including 49.6 per cent from expansion for cropland and 38.5 per cent for livestock grazing.

Between 2010 and 2021, the area of forest land under certification schemes increased by 35 per cent. The proportion of forests under a long-term management plan increased from 54 per cent in 2010 to 58 per cent in 2020.

More than 700 million hectares of forest (18 per cent) were in legally established protected areas in 2020.

Human activities such as logging and farming are encroaching upon habitats, putting about 20 per cent of reptile species at risk.

Globally, the mean percentage coverage of key biodiversity areas increased from over one quarter in 2000 to nearly one half in 2021.

More and more countries are establishing national targets for incorporating ecosystem and biodiversity values into their accounting and reporting systems. By January 2022, 37 per cent of countries assessed are on track to achieve or exceed their national targets.

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