SCIENCE DIVISIONBRIEF 003 • MAY 2018

SustainableDevelopmentGoals

Global Biodiversity Loss
Policy Brief

About

Safeguarding biodiversity from an unprecedented range of threats

The Sustainable Development Goals Policy Briefs
highlight a hotspot of environmental concern. The
evidence provided builds on the scientific data andinformation hosted on the online platform Environment
Live, and is complemented by stories from around theworld. Readers are invited to explore the numerous
clickable links throughout the Brief.
Biodiversity loss is caused by a range of differentpressures, from habitat loss due to agricultural
expansion, pollution or desertification to invasive alien
species and climate change. At the root of every issue
is one common thread: the unsustainable use of land
and resources.
UN Environment is the custodian agency for key
indicators related to Goal 15:
Protect, restore and promote sustainable use ofterrestrial ecosystems, sustainably manage forests,
combat desertification, and halt and reverse landdegradation and halt biodiversity loss.

14.5.1

Coverage of protected areas in relation to marine
areas.

15.1.2

Proportion of important sites for terrestrial andfreshwater biodiversity that are covered by protectedareas.

15.4.1

Coverage by protected areas of key sites for
mountain biodiversity.

15.9.1

Progress towards targets established in accordancewith Aichi Target 2.

15.a.1/b.1 Official development assistance and public
expenditure on conservation and sustainable use ofbiodiversity.

Protected areas are one of
the tried and true methods
for safeguarding biodiversity,
but in isolation they often
do not allow for natural
movement of species acrosslandscapes. Connecting
protected areas via naturefriendly corridors is a keyway of multiplying theirconservation effectivenessand resilience.

© Awei / Shutterstock.com

Conserving biodiversity is crucial to theachievement of most Sustainable DevelopmentGoals, including:• SDG 1 No Poverty• SDG 2 Zero Hunger• SDG 3 Good Health• SDG 6 Clean Water and Sanitation• SDG 14 Life Below Water• SDG 15 Life on Land

Impacts of biodiversity loss are being felt
across all Earth’s major biomes and thecost of inaction is escalating, demanding
increased investment in conservation andsustainable use on a global scale.
“The Sustainable Development Goals aim to‘leave no one behind’. If we don’t protect andvalue biodiversity, we will never achieve
this goal.”
Erik Solheim, Executive Director of UN Environment
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Sustainable Development Goals | Policy Brief

Facts and figures

Actionpopulation in 2017, tripled from 1950
7.5 billion humanand projected to reach 10 billion by 2050
increase in global material footprint per capita

49% between 1990-2017

Regions withhigh population
density drive habitat
fragmentation due toexpansion of infrastructure
and increased resource andland needs, putting
further pressure onbiodiversity.

Towards solutions . . .
to the Convention
196 Parties
on Biological Diversity
Over the past
five decades,
deforestation has
occurred at a rate of
130 000 km2 per year,with agricultural
expansion being themain cause.

in the percentage of all land that is occupied by
50% increase
agriculture, from 1961 to 2013
loss in forest area cover between 1990 and
1.3M km2 global
2015, which is approximately the size of Peru
in global fisheries catch in tonnes between 1950
416% increase
and 2016, threatening marine biodiversity
in tons of pesticides used between 1990 and 2015,63% increase
which can have lethal effects on pollinators

increase in the percentage of terrestrial area protected, between

80% 1990 and 2014.
.

Despite marine
protected areas
having expanded in
number and size
31.4% of fish stocks
are currently
overfished.

Biodiversity Targets in the20 Aichi
Strategic Plan for Biodiversity

2011-2020, which provides a
global framework to coordinate
efforts to protect and sustainably
use biodiversity.

that have developed at
190 Parties
least one National Biodiversity
Strategies and Action Plan. . . for achieving thePollination by about
100,000 species ofinsects, birds, andmammals account for
35% of global crop
production volume.

Proper managementof protected areas

increase in the percentage of marine territorial waters protected,

625% between 2000 and 201714%of the world’s
land is protected,
however coverage isuneven and half of the 821
terrestrial ecoregions do not
yet meet the Convention on
Biological Diversity’s target
for 17% protected area
coverage by 2020.

Ecosystems
management

Despite this growth of protected areas,
global populations of fish, birds, mammals,amphibians and reptiles declined by 58%
between 1970 and 2012, and currently 25%of mammal species and 41% of amphibians
are threatened with extinction.

Improve resource
efficiency

Selection andmanagement ofthe Biodiversity
Heritage Sites
Integration ofbiodiversity andecosystem services

Marine and Coastal
Ecosystem Management2

Sustainable Development Goals | Policy Brief

SCIENCE DIVISION

Inititatives on the ground
European ban on harmful pesticides
Bees and other insects pay a vital role in global food production and over 75% of main food crops rely to some extent on animal pollination. In
recent years, pollinator populations have plummeted, and a growing body of scientific evidence has linked this decline to the widespread useof pesticides. In April 2018 the European Commission placed a total ban on the outdoor use of three substances known as neonicotinoids,
limiting their use to greenhouses where contact with bees is not expected. This ban on demonstrably harmful substances shows an example
of regulatory action by policy-makers.

Forest Restoration
Mechanism in Guatemala
Between 1991-2001, Guatemala
experienced a forest loss equivalentto 73 hectares per year, whichcorresponds to a deforestation rateof 1.43% per annum. Disturbances
to the forest area have generated
a permanent disruption in many
ecosystems, which has resulted in a
reduction by half of the forest cover
over half a century, now only 34%of the national territory. In 2014, theRoundtable on Forest Restoration
formulated a National Strategy for
Forest Landscape Restoration as amechanism for rural development. It
is dependent upon the engagement
and commitment of thousandsof landowners and communities.
Guatemala now has one of the mostinnovative incentives programmes
in the world to support rehabilitation,
recovery, reforestation, and restorationof degraded lands, promoting
sustainable forest management andsafeguarding biodiversity at country
scale.

Advanced habitat mapping in theUnited Arab Emirates
The Environment Agency-Abu Dhabi (EAD) completed mapping of terrestrial and marine habitats, land use and land coverfor the Emirate of Abu Dhabi. The project covered the entire
Emirate – 59,640 square kilometers of terrestrial and 28,220
square kilometers of marine environments. This is possibly
the largest and most detailed delineation of habitats in theworld to date. The advanced image processing techniques
together with validation through field surveys have resulted
in data accuracy, exceeding 90% on the land and 75% in
marine areas. This powerful data set will allow environmental
decision-making to be much more objective and quantitative.
Protected area delineation, environmental permitting, land-use
and conservation planning, quantifying ecosystem services,estimating blue carbon, and detecting land degradation andhabitat loss, are just some of the areas where the mapping isbeing utilized

Indigenous Community Conservation Areasin the Philippines

Protected Areas Improve Livelihoods of Local People in Rwanda
The Sabyinyo Community Livelihood Association (SACOLA) was created in 2004 with theobjective to improve the lives of populations surrounding the Volcanoes National Park,
who were suffering heavily from the consequences of the guerrilla war of 1997-1998,
and to protect the National Park against human encroachment and disease transmission
from humans to gorillas. By providing jobs, creating community cooperatives, promoting
sustainable tourism, profit sharing with surrounding communities and constructing
houses for the most vulnerable, SACOLA was able to invest back into the community
while safeguarding the mountain gorillas, an example of sustainable biodiversity
conservation in and around protected areas.

www.unenvironment.org

This cost-effective approach to managing key biodiversity
and other high conservation and cultural value areas in
the Philippines recognizes that indigenous communities
have the right to manage their ancestral domains throughtraditional resources and management practices, as well
as define the development and conservation priorities ofthese ancestral domains. As of 2012, 12% of a total areaof about 4.3 million hectares was designated as Approved
Ancestral Domain in the Philippines. The approach isrecognized to be empowering indigenous communities
and fostering conservation, leading to progress towards
Aichi Biodiversity Targets 11 (protected areas) and 18(traditional knowledge).

For more information:
environmentlive.unep.org | contact: ludgarde.coppens@un.org

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