SDG 15 is to “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 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development has been adopted for 7 years, yet mankind still faces a stern situation. At the current speed of progress, the world is not on track to achieve SDG 15 in 2030.
Evaluation of progress is the key to understand where we are now, identify gaps and adopt effective interventions. With increased data availability and technical methods, 8 of the 14 SDG 15 indicators are at Tier 1 status (with both data and methodology). However, these indicators are mainly obtained on the basis of statistical methods, which are not scalable across scales (global-regional-national-local), and many countries with limited data acquisition capabilities cannot provide data on a regular basis.
This special issue on “Big Earth Data in support of SDG 15, Life on Land” in the International Journal of Digital Earth aims to capture the recent advancements in SDG 15 indicator progress evaluation by using cutting-edge technologies, such as Earth observation, artificial intelligence and citizen science. Specifically, original unpublished research articles on this topic are warmly welcomed.
Potential topics include (but are not limited to) the following:
- Forest planting/harvesting, forest height and biomass monitoring
- Essential Biodiversity Variables (EBVs) measurement and mapping
- Effectiveness evaluation of protected areas and gap analysis
- Assessment of land degradation neutrality progress
- Feedback in land degradation-climate change-biodiversity nexus
