External links
SDG indicators 15.1.1 and 15.2.1 - Forest area and sustainable forest management
This course has been developed to guide countries in reporting on Indicators 15.1.1 and 15.2.1. It illustrates the rationale of the indicators, the definitions and methodologies on which monitoring activities are based, and explains the process and the tools available for compiling data related to the two indicators through the Global Forest Resources Assessment Programme (available in English, French and Spanish).
SDG 15 - Indicators of sustainable forests and mountains
Mountain forests
Mountains cover around 27 percent of the earth’s land surface, and forests cover more than 40 percent of the global mountain area.
Healthy mountain forests are crucial to the ecological health of the world. They protect watersheds that supply freshwater to more than half of humankind. They also harbour wildlife, provide food and fodder for mountain peoples and are important sources of timber and non-wood products. Moreover, they protect the earth and contribute to shielding the atmosphere from CO2 emissions.
Protecting these forests and making sure they are carefully managed is an important step towards sustainable mountain development. In the last decades, tropical mountain forests have been disappearing at an astounding rate. Deforestation is generally driven by population growth, the expansion of intensive agriculture, uncertain land tenure, inequitable land distribution and the absence of strong and stable institutions.
Crucially, mountain forests perform a protective function against natural hazards, so that when forest cover is lost and the land is left unprotected, runoff and soil erosion increase, provoking landslides, avalanches and floods, to the detriment of villages, transport systems, human infrastructure and of the food security of vulnerable populations.
Putting power back into the hands of mountain people is one important step towards alleviating their poverty and, in turn, protecting mountain forests. Measures that could accomplish these aims include providing incentives for biodiversity and agro-biodiversity conservation as well as the inclusion sustainable forest management plans into national policies.
Endangered species in the Karakorum Mountains: a threat to biodiversity in the ParknewsMining, uncontrolled deforestation and hunting. These are the factors that seriously threaten the biodiversity of the Karakorum Mountains home to 10 species of mammals and 12 species of birds in danger of extinction. The alarm has been launched in past days by Muhammad Zafar Khan, head of WWF in Pakistan....
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The future potential of European Mountain forests - Final Conference of the MANFRED projecteventThe Final Conference of the European Project Management Strategies to adapt Alpine Space Forests to Climate Change Risks (MANFRED) will be held on 28 June 2012, on the premises of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations in Rome (Italy). The conference, titled “The future potential...
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Call for papers: FLEGT/VPA workshop - GhananewsThe ACP-FLEGT Support Programme in partnership with the Forestry Commission of Ghana and the EFI EU FLEGT Facility, is soliciting papers for a regional workshop on “Experiences from the FLEGT/VPA process in West and Central African countries”, which will be held from 23 to 25 October 2012 in Accra, Ghana....
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Agriculture and Rural Development Day at Rio+20eventThe 4th Agriculture and Rural Development Day will take place on Monday 18 June 2012 at the Sul América Convention Center, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and other international organizations are organizing this full-day side event during the UN...
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Why the Alps matterpublicationPolicy brief presented at Rio+20
The Alps are a coherent mountain region covering 190,568 km2 across eight countries, with a population of 14 million. Their central location in western Europe gives them many important roles for the continent. The Alpine economy is based on a symbiosis of... Download » |
Why mountains of the Middle East and North Africa matterpublicationPolicy brief presented at Rio+20
Mountains of the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region are important for sustainable development in national, regional and global contexts. The goods and key ecosystem services provided by these mountains are vital for the sustainable development.... Download » |
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