Protect, restore and promote sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems, sustainably manage forests, combat desertification, and halt and reverse land degradation and halt biodiversity loss

Since the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development,1 which was held in Rio de Janeiro in 1992, awareness of the importance of biodiversity and protecting the condition of terrestrial ecosystems has greatly improved. Factors for protecting biodiversity and creating more sustainable relationships with terrestrial ecosystems, however, are still not well understood. Moreover, the full extent to which the ongoing permanent loss of biodiversity will affect human welfare in the future cannot be entirely known. What is clear, however, is that diversity of species and biomes, or terrestrial landscapes, has been declining, and this trend has major implications for sustainability.

Related Subject(s): Economic and Social Development