Sustainable Development Goal 15 (SDG 15 or Global Goal 15) is about “Life on land”. One of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals established by the United Nations in 2015, the official wording is: “Protect, restore and promote sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems, sustainably manage forests, combat desertification, and halt and reverse land degradation and halt biodiversity loss”. The Goal has 12 targets to be achieved by 2030. Progress towards targets will be measured by 14 indicators.
The nine outcome targets include: Conserve and restore terrestrial and freshwater ecosystems; end deforestation and restore degraded forests; end desertification and restore degraded land; ensure conservation of mountain ecosystems, protect biodiversity and natural habitats; protect access to genetic resources and fair sharing of the benefits; eliminate poaching and trafficking of protected species; prevent invasive alien species on land and in water ecosystems; and integrate ecosystem and biodiversity in governmental planning. The three means of implementation targets include: Increase financial resources to conserve and sustainably use ecosystem and biodiversity; finance and incentivize sustainable forest management; combat global poaching and trafficking. An annual report is prepared by the Secretary-General of the United Nations evaluating the progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals. It provides data on changes in forest areas, desertification, biodiversity loss and other parameters that are of relevance for SDG 15.
| Targets | Indicator(s) |
|---|---|
| 15.1 By 2020, ensure the conservation, restoration and sustainable use of terrestrial and inland freshwater ecosystems and their services, in particular forests, wetlands, mountains and drylands, in line with obligations under international agreements | 15.1.1 Forest area as a proportion of total land area 15.1.2 Proportion of important sites for terrestrial and freshwater biodiversity that are covered by protected areas, by ecosystem type |
| 15.2 By 2020, promote the implementation of sustainable management of all types of forests, halt deforestation, restore degraded forests and substantially increase afforestation and reforestation globally | 15.2.1 Progress towards sustainable forest management |
| 15.3 By 2030, combat desertification, restore degraded land and soil, including land affected by desertification, drought and floods, and strive to achieve a land degradation- neutral world | 15.3.1 Proportion of land that is degraded over total land area |
| 15.4 By 2030, ensure the conservation of mountain ecosystems, including their biodiversity, in order to enhance their capacity to provide benefits that are essential for sustainable development | 15.4.1 Coverage by protected areas of important sites for mountain biodiversity 15.4.2 Mountain Green Cover Index |
| 15.5 Take urgent and significant action to reduce the degradation of natural habitats, halt the loss of biodiversity and, by 2020, protect and prevent the extinction of threatened species | 15.5.1 Red List Index |
| 15.6 Promote fair and equitable sharing of the benefits arising from the utilization of genetic resources and promote appropriate access to such resources, as internationally agreed | 15.6.1 Number of countries that have adopted legislative, administrative and policy frameworks to ensure fair and equitable sharing of benefits |
| 15.7 Take urgent action to end poaching and trafficking of protected species of flora and fauna and address both demand and supply of illegal wildlife products | 15.7.1 Proportion of traded wildlife that was poached or illicitly trafficked |
| 15.8 By 2020, introduce measures to prevent the introduction and significantly reduce the impact of invasive alien species on land and water ecosystems and control or eradicate the priority species | 15.8.1 Proportion of countries adopting relevant national legislation and adequately resourcing the prevention or control of invasive alien species |
| 15.9 By 2020, integrate ecosystem and biodiversity values into national and local planning, development processes, poverty reduction strategies and accounts | 15.9.1 (a) Number of countries that have established national targets in accordance with or similar to Aichi Biodiversity Target 2 of the Strategic Plan for Biodiversity 2011–2020 in their national biodiversity strategy and action plans and the progress reported towards these targets; and (b) integration of biodiversity into national accounting and reporting systems, defined as implementation of the System of Environmental-Economic Accounting |
| 15.a Mobilize and significantly increase financial resources from all sources to conserve and sustainably use biodiversity and ecosystems | 15.a.1 (a) Official development assistance on conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity; and (b) revenue generated and finance mobilized from biodiversity-relevant economic instruments |
| 15.b Mobilize significant resources from all sources and at all levels to finance sustainable forest management and provide adequate incentives to developing countries to advance such management, including for conservation and reforestation | 15.b.1 (a) Official development assistance on conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity; and (b) revenue generated and finance mobilized from biodiversity-relevant economic instruments |
| 15.c Enhance global support for efforts to combat poaching and trafficking of protected species, including by increasing the capacity of local communities to pursue sustainable livelihood opportunities | 15.c.1 Proportion of traded wildlife that was poached or illicitly trafficked |
Custodian agencies
The custodian agencies are responsible for data gathering and reporting on the indicators. They are:
- Indicator 15.1.1, 15.2.1 and 15.4.2: Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO)
- Indicator 15.1.2: United Nations Environmental Programme-World Conservation Monitoring Center (UNEP-WCMC) and United Nations Environmental Programme
- Indicator 15.3.1 and 15.4.1: United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD)
- Indicator 15.5.1 and 15.8.1: International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN)
- Indicator 15.6.1: Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD-Secretariat)
- Indicator 15.7.1 and 15.c.1: United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, and Convention for International Trade in Endangered Species (CITIES)
- Indicator 15.9.1: Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD-Secretariat) and United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP)
- Indicator 15.a.1, 15.6.1 and 15.b.1: Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP) and World Bank (WB)
Links with other SDGs
The UN 17 Sustainable Development Goals are inherently interconnected, most of the goals can be achieved only when others are also achieved. And achieving any individual goal tends to help the achievement of the other goals.
The impact of SDG 15 on gender equality (SDG 5) is also significant. In many parts of the world, women are farmers, especially poor women living in rural areas. They are the main labour force in growing crops, often depend on forests for fuel, fodder and food. Their limited ownership of the land reduces their ability to adapt to losses or decide how to use it. By protecting biodiversity and thus maintaining agricultural productivity, can also empower gender equality. When forest conditions and regeneration improve, women themselves will get a greater political voice.
For SDG 6 and SDG 7, the availability and quality of water from the functioning of ecosystems, especially forest ecological system. Protecting biodiversity and maintaining the integrity of wetlands and forests play a huge role in the acquisition and replenishment of freshwater resources because natural ecosystems act as filters to clean water and protect it from diseases that can harm the animal or human health.
SDG 15 has a direct link to SDG 8 includes high-yield agriculture and tourism, which attracts tourists through protected ecosystems and biodiverse environments, thereby enhancing economic returns.
Maintaining biodiversity plays a vital role in helping to mitigate and adapt to climate change. Mangrove forests, for example, account for approximately 1% of carbon sequestration by the world’s forests, but about 14% by the global ocean. Therefore, negative impacts on mangrove habitats can result in very high GHG emissions. The impact of land-based activities such as agriculture, land reclamation and urban development on ecosystems demonstrates the high degree of linkage between SDG 13, SDG 14 and SDG 15, and the importance of the overall management of all three.
India and SDG 15
India is one among the 17 mega-biodiverse countries in the world and harbors 8% of the world’s biodiversity. The forest cover of India is 24.62% i.e. 80.9 million hectares (FSI 2021). Out of the country’s total geographic area, 5.27% is under protected area i.e. 990 Protected Areas which comprises of 106 National parks, 565 Wildlife Sanctuaries, 100 Conservation Reserves, and 219 Community Reserves (NWDC 2022). India is continuously working towards achieving the Aichi Targets of the Convention on Biological Diversity and it is committed towards the implementation of Nagoya Protocol. India has initiated two main projects aiming at conservation of land ecosystems namely, 1) National Afforestation Programme, and 2) National Programme on the Integrated Development of Wildlife Habitats and two specific schemes namely 1) Project Tiger and 2) Project Elephant to conserve the flagship species. Between the period 2000-2010, an additional 10% of the rural people started residing in degraded areas and an additional 11% people started living in degraded areas with limited market access (UNADAP 2022). This has led to livelihood and food insecurity. The loss incurred due to land degradation annually is estimated to be around US$ 15.9 billion, i.e. 1.3% of country’s GDP (UNADAP 2022). India signed the United Nation Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) in 1994 and ratified it in the year 1996.
India has put forward its quantitative performance values for 3 out of the 12 targets given under SDG 15 by 2030(United Nations and NITI Aayog 2018). India has also recognized that SDG 15 is interconnected with most of other SDG’s.
Procedure of choosing targets
In order to achieve the targets of SDGs, the UN has given complete freedom to each individual nation to choose targets as per their choice, methods assessing indicators and monitoring conforming to the global framework.
Procedure associated with quantification of targets
The first step is to derive the baseline values for each target of the SDG. Based on these values, the targets are selected by each nation. Out of the 12 targets of SDG 15, India has selected three targets for achieving SDG 15. The performance indicators for these targets are selected on the basis of data available at the national level and are comparable across the States and Union Territories (United Nations and NITI Aayog 2018). India is a federal and democratic country and political affiliations in its States and Union Territories are often different from those holding power at the centre. This influences the achievement of the target of conserving nature.
India’s Ambition for SD Targets 15.1, 15.2 and 15.7
India has decided to achieve three targets, namely 15.1, 15.2 and 15.7 for achieving SDG 15.
Target 15.1
By the year 2030, India has planned to increase its area under forest by 33% as compared to its forest cover in 2015 (21.54%) i.e. an increase to around 28-29% by 2030. India also wishes to maintain the same areal proportion under water bodies within its forest as was in 2015 (Tisdell 2021).
Target 15.2
This plan seems to be a little vague. India would like to enforce the same forest management policies which were implemented between 2015 and 2017 through which India claims to have increased the forest cover by O.21% (Tisdell 2021).
Target 15. 7
India aims to sustain the population of wild elephants to the same level as in 2017 (Tisdell 2021).
DRAWBACKS OF INDIA’S CHOICE OF TARGETS OF 15.1, 15.2 AND 15.7
The targets chosen by India, partially reflect the actual targets to be achieved.
Drawbacks of Target 15.1.
The nature and quality of forest cover to be achieved is not mentioned explicitly. So, even degraded forests and plantations can be counted in for forest cover but will have a negative effect on biodiversity conservation .There has to be clarity of how much forest cover is needed to consider an area as forest.
Procedure of choosing targets
In order to achieve the targets of SDGs, the UN has given complete freedom to each individual nation to choose targets as per their choice, methods assessing indicators and monitoring conforming to the global framework.
Procedure associated with quantification of targets
The first step is to derive the baseline values for each target of the SDG. Based on these values, the targets are selected by each nation. Out of the 12 targets of SDG 15, India has selected three targets for achieving SDG 15. The performance indicators for these targets are selected on the basis of data available at the national level and are comparable across the States and Union Territories (United Nations and NITI Aayog 2018). India is a federal and democratic country and political affiliations in its States and Union Territories are often different from those holding power at the centre. This influences the achievement of the target of conserving nature.
India’s Ambition for SD Targets 15.1, 15.2 and 15.7
India has decided to achieve three targets, namely 15.1, 15.2 and 15.7 for achieving SDG 15.
Target 15.1
By the year 2030, India has planned to increase its area under forest by 33% as compared to its forest cover in 2015 (21.54%) i.e. an increase to around 28-29% by 2030. India also wishes to maintain the same areal proportion under water bodies within its forest as was in 2015 (Tisdell 2021).
Target 15.2
This plan seems to be a little vague. India would like to enforce the same forest management policies which were implemented between 2015 and 2017 through which India claims to have increased the forest cover by O.21% (Tisdell 2021).
Target 15. 7
India aims to sustain the population of wild elephants to the same level as in 2017 (Tisdell 2021).
DRAWBACKS OF INDIA’S CHOICE OF TARGETS OF 15.1, 15.2 AND 15.7
The targets chosen by India, partially reflect the actual targets to be achieved.
Drawbacks of Target 15.1.
The nature and quality of forest cover to be achieved is not mentioned explicitly. So, even degraded forests and plantations can be counted in for forest cover but will have a negative effect on biodiversity conservation .There has to be clarity of how much forest cover is needed to consider an area as forest.
There are no plans for conserving the high mountain areas and drylands that are naturally devoid of forests.
Proportionate area of water to be maintained in forests does not serve the purpose of conserving biodiversity as the water area in forest can include dams constructed to meet human needs and whose construction itself can lead to destruction of biodiversity. The water quality of water area in the forest has not been taken into consideration.
Drawbacks of Target 15.2.
India states that it will be satisfying this target, but how is the question. There are no specific targets for sustainably managing all forest types. This target is partly satisfied by its claim to increase its forest cover by one-third till 2030. So, the Target 15.2 is not addressed. This leaves India satisfying only 2 not 3 of the 12 SDG 15 targets namely 15.1 and 15.7.
Drawbacks of Target 15. 7.
The reason behind choosing this target is that only healthy and virgin forests can offer the quality and quantity of food required by elephants. It therefore, seems that this target is related to SD Target 15.2 rather than SD Target 15.7.
Factors such as reducing destruction of suitable habitat for elephants and reducing trafficking in elephant products may contribute to the plan of maintaining the level of elephant population at par with the year 2017. Another problem faced by Asian elephants is that they are seen as agricultural pests and most of them are killed due to the human-elephant conflict. But there is no mention about the plans to tackle this major problem.
The role of elephants in biodiversity conservation has many facets. As an umbrella species it promotes conservation of biodiversity, but if the population increases beyond the carrying capacity of the forests, it may lead to reduction in forest biodiversity which may call for culling of elephants.
Why has the Indian government focused only on elephants when India is home to many other wild faunal species which are threatened with extinction? Is it because of its cultural significance or as it acts as forest heath indicator? If the latter was true then the health of forests in India must have improved immensely between 2012-2017 as the population of elephants during that period rose by around 20%. This is a huge increase, if the fact that the elephants are k-selected species i.e. population level increases slowly is considered. If this fact is kept in mind many questions arise such as 1) how reliable were the population counts? 2) Were the population estimates done before 2017 accurate or is the one done in 2017 accurate?
OTHER DIMENSIONS OF INDIA’S PLAN TO FULFIL SDG 15
India plans to make use of an index score for measuring its performance in reaching SDG 15 and specifies this for each of its States and Union Territories. This will enable each of the Indian States and Union Territories to understand its performance in achieving the SDG 15 and a comparison will be made. The index is a normalized one, weighing each target equally i.e. giving equal importance to each target. The question that arises is that whether each target should be weighed equally? This index also masks the fact that many SD targets are not addressed in India’s Sustainable Development plan namely,
Target 15.3: Combating desertification
Target 15.4: Conserving Mountain ecosystems
Target 15.5: Protect and prevent threatened species extinction
Target 15.8: Introduce measures to prevent the introduction and significantly reduce the impact of invasive alien species on land and water ecosystems and control or eradicate the priority species
UNDERLYING REASONS FOR POOR SELECTION OF TARGETS BY INDIA
Only a few targets have been selected by each nation as the UN gives the individual nations the freedom to select the targets to be achieved, its quantification, and the process of monitoring progress of the selected targets. Formulating a target is difficult. After selection of targets, further difficulties lie in devising ways to quantify them to understand the contribution of the nation towards Global Agenda 2030. The factors such as data availability and politics of Central Ministries, State and Union Territories govern the selection of targets by India. The result of which is that many targets have been left unaddressed or have been partially addressed. Many targets have not been taken up due to lack of data for quantifying them, but taking up associated conservation targets would have contributed in fulfilling Global Agenda 2030. Therefore, it is clear that there have been biases in selecting targets.
FACTORS AFFECTING INDIA’S MISSION OF ACHIEVING SDG 15
The United Nations and NITI Aayog baseline report (2018) states that an integrated approach has been taken up in the selection of India’s SD targets but the interconnections between the targets are not interlocked. The conflicts between the chosen targets are not addressed. As the selection of targets is left to the individual nations, the politics of the Central Ministries, State and Union Territories have interfered with the target selection and thus, influenced the performance of SDG Targets. Policy interventions in India are weak and therefore, the States and Union Territories are left with no targets to achieve. The NITI Aayog will have to consult and pursue the public authorities in States and Union Territories in order to encourage them to contribute to the SD Goals to be achieved by India.
The United Nations and NITI Aayog baseline report (2018) ignores the bio geographical zones of India and the biodiversity hotspots of India but considers the political divisions of lndia. The move of focusing on wild elephants alone as a measure for biodiversity conservation is a too restricted approach for conserving biodiversity in the wild.
Most of the UN SDG targets are vague in some sense and have not explicitly stated trade-offs. Though the United Nations lays emphasis on choosing targets that can be quantified, the whole and sole decision regarding which SD targets will be pursued by the nations has been left to the individual nation.
India has chosen SD Goal 15 (Conservation of Life on Land)which deals mainly with conservation of forest and biodiversity on land. India has put forward its quantitative performance values for 3 out of the 12 targets given under SDG 15 by 2030. India has also recognized that SDG 15 is interconnected with 6 of other SDG’s.
The target 15.3 of Sustainable Development Goals, is to achieve Land Degradation Neutrality through which land degradation can be avoided, reduced and reversed. In order to combat land degradation in India, the country has committed to restore 26 million hectares of degraded land by 2030. This will also help in acting as a carbon sink of 2.5 to 3 billion of carbon dioxide equivalent. The country has already added 3 million hectares of forest cover over the last 10 years.
India has a very democratic political situation. So, achieving its SD Goals will depend on the cooperation between the government of States/Union Territories and the Centre. With the political leaders wanting votes for their parties won’t think twice before opting out of any SD Goals and thereby sacrificing conservation for the sake of temporary economic gain. Fostering rational decision making at political level is the biggest challenge in any democracy.
Though the SDG 15 seems quite promising, implementing it on ground may be very difficult may it be India or any other country.
FOR MORE DETAIL DISCUSSION ON SDG 15 – LIFE ON LAND, LISTEN TO THE PODCAST EPISODE ON ‘RESEARCH WITH NJ’.
Naman Jain 