Objective 15: life in land ecosystems

Objective 15: life in land ecosystems
Above, forest fire in Moral de Hornuez, Segovia (Spain), 2008; below, Irati forest, in Navarre (Spain), 2009 © Francisco Sánchez Aguado

Objective 15: life in land ecosystems

Deforestation and desertification, provoked by human activities and climate change, are important challenges for sustainable development and affect the lives and livelihoods of millions of people in the fight against poverty.

30% of the land area is covered by forests, living entities which, apart from providing food security and shelter, are essential in the fight against climate change and protect biological diversity (photo below). However, the rise in temperature and the drop in humidity, together with certain urban and forestry policies, give rise to ever more frequent and destructive forest fires (photo above), be they due to accident, negligence or intentional. Add this to felling for pasture or crops and 13 million hectares of forest disappear every year. Another 3,600 million hectares have suffered desertification.

Although the rate of forest depletion has fallen, the decrease in the productivity of the soil, the loss of biological diversity, poaching and trafficking of animals and wild plants are still causes for great concern, and in line with these, some of the goals of this Objective (Managing forests sustainably, combating desertification, halting and reversing the degradation of land and stopping the loss of biodiversity) include promoting sustainable management of all kinds of forest, putting a stop to deforestation, recovering degraded forests and increasing forestation and reforestation at a global level, fomenting the equal and fair participation in such benefits as derive from genetic resources, taking steps to stop poaching and the trafficking of protected species of fauna and flora, and to take on the illegal supply and demand of forest products.