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.
Sustainability of Smallholder Livelihoods in the Ecuadorian HighlandspublicationSmallholder farming constitutes an important but marginalized sector, responsible for most of the world’s agricultural production. This has a significant influence in the land use and land cover change process and agrobiodiversity conservation, especially in mountainous regions of developing countries. The maintenance of sustainable smallholder farming systems represents a key... Download » |
CMC joins the Mountain PartnershipnewsA Colorado Mountain College (CMC) faculty member’s trip to Bhutan two years ago has morphed into a new opportunity for the college to go global. CMC recently became a member of the Mountain Partnership. In 2016 Lorraine Miller, an English as a second language instructor and developmental education faculty...
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Visualizing mountain environment conservationnewsAs the custodian agency of Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) Target 15.4, the Mountain Partnership Secretariat (MPS) at the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) developed the official indicator, the Mountain Green Cover Index, for monitoring progress towards the achievement of this target. Baseline data developed for the...
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International Day of ForestseventThe International Day of Forests (21 March) celebrates and raises awareness about the importance of all types of forests. On each International Day of Forests, countries are encouraged to undertake local, national and international efforts to organize activities involving forests and trees, such as tree planting campaigns. The theme for...
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MP members' statement for CSW62 acceptedpeak to peakIssue 113 – Month 3 – Year 2018 The March issue of Peak to Peak opens with a news about Mountain Parternship members' joint written statement being accepted for presentation during the upcoming 62nd session of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW62). The newsletter continues with stories... Download » |
PNG’s National Forest Inventory data presentednewsAround 80 forestry and biodiversity researchers from the Papua New Guinea (PNG) Forest Authority (PNGFA), PNG Forest Research Institute (PNGFRI), PNG University of Technology, University of PNG and Binatang Research Centre gathered at the PNGFRI in Lae on 14-20 February 2018 to present the preliminary results of PNG’s first multipurpose...
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