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.
IPROMO 2018: Bioeconomy in mountain areasnewsThe bioeconomy of the world’s mountains will be under discussion at the 2018 International Programme on Research and Training on Sustainable Management of Mountain Areas (IPROMO) in Ormea and Pieve Tesino, Italy, from 18 June to 2 July. Some 37 technical officers and researchers from more than 20 countries will...
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.jpg "Agreement to improve mountain livelihoods")
Agreement to improve mountain livelihoodsnewsIFOAM - Organics International and FAO signed an agreement on June 1 2018 in Rome, Italy to improve the livelihoods of rural peoples, including mountain smallholders, by strengthening market access and value chains for small-scale producers, enhancing the conservation and use of biodiversity and reducing food loss and food waste. |
Forests and water in mountain catchments: education, citizen science and the Mountain PartnershipeventA thematic session on “Forest and water in mountain catchments: education, citizen science and Mountain Partnership” will take place during the International Environmental Education Conference, to be held on 30 May–1 June 2018 at Eger University in Hungary. In the framework of the European Forestry Commission Working Party on the...
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61st Congress of Rotary District 2080eventGiorgio Grussu of the Mountain Partnership Secretariat will present the Coalition for Fragile Ecosystems that the Mountain Partnership and Global Island Partnership are building together at the 61st Congress of Rotary District 2080 (Rome, Lazio, Sardinia), to be held on 25 May 2018 Santa Teresa di Gallura, Sardinia, Italy. The...
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Mountain session, SDG 15 Expert Group MeetingnewsThe role of mountains as key providers of goods and services essential for global sustainable development was discussed during a dedicated session of the Expert Group Meeting (EGM) on Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 15 on Life on Land in New York on 15 May 2018. Andrew Taber, former Chair of the...
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MP Steering Committee meets in Romepeak to peakIssue 115 – Month 5 – Year 2018 The May 2018 issue of Peak to Peak provides a brief overview of the Mountain Partnership Steering Committee meeting held in Rome, Italy, on 23–24 April. The newsletter continues with stories about the 2018 International Mountain Day theme; the baseline data... Download » |
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