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.

Mountain Partnership survey results now online

peak to peak

Issue 128 - Month 7 - Year 2019

The July 2019 issue of Peak to Peak inaugurates a newly designed edition of the newsletter. It begins with the results of the Mountain Partnership survey which collected feedback from MP members. The newsletter includes a new section, Members' Voices, in which a...

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World Forum on Urban Forests

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The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, the City of Mantova, the Politecnico di Milano and the Italian Society of Silviculture and Forest Ecology are organizing the first World Forum on Urban Forests, under the theme “Changing the nature of cities: the role of urban forestry...

Workshop on mountain transboundary cooperation

news

Mountain transboundary cooperation was the topic of a one-day expert workshop organized by the Directorate-General for Regional and Urban Policy (DG REGIO) of the European Commission in Brussels, Belgium, on 9 November 2018.

The seminar was attended by approximately 120 participants from EU Institutions, interregional programmes, international organizations and representatives of...

World Mountain Forum 2018 Kyrgyzstan

peak to peak

Issue 120 – Month 10 – Year 2018

The November 2018 issue of Peak to Peak starts with the fourth in the series of World Mountain Forums (WMF) which was held in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan. in October. The newsletter continues with stories from members about Bridging the gap on mountain resilience , Cultural heritage at the European...

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Caucasus Mountain Forum 2018

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The second Caucasus Mountain Forum, organized by the Scientific Network for the Caucasus Region under the theme “The Caucasus Research Agenda – a Key to Sustainable Regional Development”, will be held from 30 October to 2 November 2018 in Ankara, Turkey. The 2018 Caucasus Mountain Forum theme encompasses the subject...

Forum Carpaticum 2018

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The Forum Carpaticum is an open meeting of the Science for the Carpathians (S4C) initiative that occurs every two years. The fifth Forum Carpaticum will cover a wide range of topics related to sustainability in the Carpathians, including land cover and land-use change, renewable energy, climate change vulnerability assessment and...