Global Civil Society & the UN Sustainable Development Goals

Goal 15: Sustainably manage forests, combat desertification, halt and reverse land degradation, halt biodiversity loss

Life on Land


Goal 15 is about conserving life on land. It is to protect and restore terrestrial ecosystems, sustainably manage forests, combat desertification, and halt and reverse land degradation and stop biodiversity loss.

Earth’s ecosystems are vital for sustaining human life, they contribute to over half of global GDP and encompass diverse cultural, spiritual, and economic values.

However, the world is facing a triple crisis of climate change, pollution and biodiversity loss.

Between 2015 and 2019, at least 100 million hectares of healthy and productive land were degraded every year, impacting the lives of 1.3 billion people.

Agricultural expansion is the direct driver of almost 90 per cent of deforestation. This is in direct relation to our food systems, and oil palm harvesting accounted for 7 per cent of global deforestation from 2000 to 2018.

Global and regional efforts to sustain forest ecosystems as well as their social, economic and environmental functions are essential, in particular for developing countries and the tropics.

We need to shift humanity’s relationship with nature to achieve Goal 15, and realise that nature is the root of our life of earth. The recently adopted Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework provides renewed impetus for Goal 15, outlining four outcome- oriented goals to be achieved by 2050 and 23 targets to be achieved by 2030.

Name Acronym Founded City HQ Country/Territory HQ Type I Type II

International Rainwater Harvesting Alliance

IRHA 2002 Geneva Switzerland F y

International Research and Training Centre on Erosion and Sedimentation

IRTCES 1984 Beijing China E

International Research Center for Artificial Intelligence under the auspices of UNESCO

IRCAI 2020 Ljubljana Slovenia J g

International Research Centre on Environment and Development

1973 Nogent-sur-Marne France G

International Research Group for Psycho-Societal Analysis

IRGFPSA Stavanger Norway D

International Research Group on Wood Protection

IRG 1969 Stockholm Sweden B v

International Revival Network

IRN Kelowna BC Canada F

International Rhino Keeper Association

IRKA Tampa FL USA G

International Rice Research Institute

IRRI 1960 Makati Philippines E jy

International Right to Life Federation

IRLF 1984 Cincinnati OH USA D

International River Foundation

IRF 2003 South Bank QLD Australia G f

International Rubber Study Group

IRSG 1944 Singapore Singapore C g

International Safe Transit Association

ISTA 1948 East Lansing MI USA N

International Sakharov Environmental University

ISEU Minsk Belarus G

International Sansevieria Society

ISS 2000 D

International School for Holocaust Studies

1993 Jerusalem Israel G

International Science Council

ISC 2018 Paris France A y

International Sea Turtle Society

ISTS 1981 La Jolla CA USA B

International Small Islands Studies Association

ISISA 1992 Charlottetown PE Canada C

International Snow Leopard Trust

ISLT 1981 Seattle WA USA G

International Social Environmental Union

ISEU Moscow Russia G

International Social Tourism Organisation

ISTO 1963 Brussels Belgium F y

International Society for Animal Genetics

ISAG 1964 Uppsala Sweden C

International Society for Animal Hygiene

ISAH 1970 Hannover Germany D

International Society for Animal Rights

ISAR 1959 Clarks Summit PA USA G

International Society for Applied Ethology

ISAE 1966 Vienna Austria C v

International Society for Behavioral Ecology

ISBE 1988 Melbourne VIC Australia D

International Society for Biological and Environmental Repositories

ISBER 2002 Vancouver BC Canada C

International Society for Brain Electromagnetic Topography

ISBET 1989 Giesen Germany C v

International Society for Children's Health and the Environment

ISCHE Needham MA USA G

International Society for Digital Earth

ISDE 2004 Beijing China D

International Society for Ecological Economics

ISEE 1988 Boston MA USA B y

International Society for Ecological Psychology

ISEP 1981 Tempe AZ USA D

International Society for Environmental Biogeochemistry

ISEB 2009 Knoxville TN USA E

International Society for Environmental Biotechnology

ISEB 1993 Xalapa Mexico D

International Society for Environmental Epidemiology

ISEE 1988 Herndon VA USA C v

International Society for Environmental Ergonomics

1986 Loughborough UK E c

International Society for Environmental Ethics

ISEE 1989 Boulder CO USA F

International Society for Environmental Information Sciences

ISEIS Regina SK Canada G

International Society for Environmental Protection

ISEP 1987 Vienna Austria D

International Society for Environmentally Acquired Illness

ISEAI 2019 Chapel Hill NC USA N

International Society for Fertility Preservation

ISFP 2008 Parkville VIC Australia C

International Society for Fungal Conservation

ISFC 2010 Egham UK B

International Society for Human and Animal Mycology

ISHAM 1954 's Hertogenbosch Netherlands B y

International Society for Industrial Ecology

ISIE 2001 New Haven CT USA D t

International Society for Mangrove Ecosystems

ISME 1990 Okinawa Japan C

International Society for Microbial Ecology

ISME 1998 Wageningen Netherlands D

International Society for Mine Surveying

ISM 1969 E

International Society for Phenomenology and the Sciences of Life

1976 Macerata Italy K

International Society for Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing

ISPRS 1910 Hannover Germany B y

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