Continued global deforestation, land and ecosystem degradation, and biodiversity loss pose major risks to human survival and sustainable development. Even as efforts are made in the domain of sustainable forest and natural resource management, commitments and instruments designed to protect, restore, and sustainably use forests and biodiversity need to be urgently implemented to ensure healthy, resilient societies.

The world’s forest area continues to decrease but at a slightly slower rate compared with previous decades. The proportion of forest area fell from 31.9 percent of the total land area in 2000 to 31.2 percent of the total land area in 2020. Despite the overall loss of forests, the world continues to progress toward sustainable forest management. Between 2010 and 2020, the share of forests under certification schemes, the proportion of forests within a protected area, and the proportion of forests under a long-term management plan increased globally.

Safeguarding key biodiversity areas through the establishment of protected areas or other effective area-based conservation is an essential contribution towards Sustainable Development Goals 14 and 15. Globally, this coverage of marine, terrestrial, freshwater, and mountain key biodiversity areas has increased from about one-quarter of each site on average covered by protected areas 20 years ago to nearly half of each site covered in 2021.

Vegetation coverage of the world’s mountains remains roughly stable at approximately 73 percent since 2015. Disaggregated data by mountain class shows that green cover tends to decrease with mountain elevation, evidencing the strong role of climate in mountain green cover patterns.

By February 2022, 129 countries had committed to setting their voluntary targets for achieving land degradation neutrality, and in 71 countries, Governments had already officially endorsed those targets. Overall, commitments to land restoration are estimated at 1 billion ha, out of which over 450 million ha are committed through land degradation neutrality targets.

The Red List Index shows continuing deterioration in terms of species extinction risk around the world, based on repeated assessments of the extinction risk of all amphibians, birds, mammals, corals, and cycads, representing about 25,000 species in total. The index went from 0.80 in 2000 to 0.72 in 2022. The prevalence and rate of extinction risk are particularly severe in Central and Southern Asia, Eastern and South-Eastern Asia, and small island developing States. COVID-19 pandemic impacts on species extinction risk are likely negative mainly because of reduced conservation capacity and resources, along with increased threats.

At the end of 2021, 68 countries had at least one legislative, administrative, or policy measure in place to ensure the fair and equitable sharing of benefits arising from the use of genetic resources and associated traditional knowledge in accordance with the Nagoya Protocol on Access to Genetic Resources and the Fair and Equitable Sharing of Benefits Arising from Their Utilization to the Convention on Biological Diversity. Furthermore, 79 countries reported measures in place to implement the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture.

Nearly all countries (98 percent) have adopted national legislation relevant to the prevention or control of invasive alien species, although there is wide variation in the coverage of this legislation across sectors.

There has been a steady upward trend in the number of countries incorporating biodiversity values into national accounting and reporting systems. Most countries have established national targets in relation to Aichi Biodiversity Target 2 of the Strategic Plan for Biodiversity 2011–2020. However, only about one-third of countries are reporting that they are on track to reach or exceed their national targets. Despite progress, Target 2 was not met by 2020.

As of March 2022, 89 countries and territories had implemented the System of Environmental-Economic Accounting (SEEA) to make nature count in policies and build back better through accounts for natural resources and/or ecosystems. This number is unchanged from 2021. Four countries started compiling the newly adopted SEEA Ecosystem Accounting in 2021.

In 2021, a total of 234 biodiversity-relevant taxes are in force, spanning 62 countries. While these policy instruments provide incentives for sustainable consumption and production and thus conserve and sustainably use biodiversity, they also generated revenue in the order of $8.9 billion per year (2017–2019 average).

In 2020, the official development assistance of members of the Development Assistance Committee of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development in support of biodiversity was $7.2 billion, an increase of 3 percent in real terms over 2019.