SDG 15: Life on land >

SDG 15: Protect terrestrial ecosystems, sustainably manage forests, combat desertification, and halt and reverse land degradation and halt biodiversity loss

Congo and Rwanda

25% of the world’s fauna and flora are threatened and about 1 million species are currently facing extinction: these are the numbers from the latest report by the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES). According to the latest data, wildlife populations have plummeted by an average of 69% between 1970 and 2018.

This is a worrying scenario on which the BG4SDGs – Time to Change project has turned a spotlight to highlight the importance of conscious action that can preserve and protect the biodiversity of our Planet impacted by climate change.

The photographs depict Virunga National Park, on the border between Rwanda and Congo, and recount the story of the sustainable management of environmental ecosystems aimed at protecting them from phenomena such as desertification, flooding, drought and deforestation.

Climate, however, is only one of the factors negatively affecting them. Land alteration for agricultural or livestock breeding purposes is a major driver of extinction, not to mention poaching practices.

Extinction is well represented by a species very close to ours from an evolutionary point of view: that of the Gorillas, which until 2018 reached the number of only 1,000 individuals on the entire Planet Guindani travelled to the border with Rwanda and the Dominican Republic of Congo to raise awareness of the great work being done by park rangers to protect this endangered species before it is too late.