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. 

FAO Assists in Enhancing the Resilience of Mountain Communities and Environments

FAO Assists in Enhancing the Resilience of Mountain Communities and Environments

publication

This article was written by the Mountain Partnership Secretariat Coordinator Yuka Makino for the Mountain Research and Development journal. The article outlines the ways in which the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) has played a leading role in sustainable mountain development within the United Nations system.

 

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2020 Booklet of Good Practices for vibrant European mountains

publication

To celebrate the start of 2020, Euromontana – the European Association of Mountain Areas - published a new booklet of good practices. This brochure is the result of the exchange of good practices carried out by Euromontana in 2019 and aims at showcasing innovative initiatives for the development of...

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Shaping the water-energy-food nexus for resilient mountain livelihoods

Shaping the water-energy-food nexus for resilient mountain livelihoods

publication

This new Issue Brief from the Center for Development and Environment explores whether a water-energy-food nexus approach offers a way to identify forward-looking options and policies to strengthen the livelihoods and resilience of people living in our changing mountains. The Issue Brief was funded by the Austrian Development Agency and...

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2018 Annual Report now available online

2018 Annual Report now available online

peak to peak

Issue 130 - Month 9 - Year 2019

The September 2019 issue of Peak to Peak begins with the release of the Mountain Partnership Secretariat Annual Report 2018. Continuing with the new Members' Voices section, Ruel Inojaldo Perez from the Baslay Farmers Association (BFA) explains his journey to becoming the Chairman of...

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Mountain Partnership Secretariat Annual Report 2018

Mountain Partnership Secretariat Annual Report 2018

publication

The Mountain Partnership Secretariat Annual Report outlines key achievements in promoting sustainable mountain development last year in its 2018 annual report. The publication documents the Secretariat’s work in the areas of advocacy, communication and knowledge management, promoting International Mountain Day, brokering joint action and leading capacity development initiatives. This publication...

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Mountain Partnership survey results now online

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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