Protect, restore and promote sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems, sustainably manage forests, combat desertification, halt and reverse land degradation and halt biodiversity loss.
SDG 15 seeks to protect, restore, and promote the conservation and sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems. This includes efforts to sustainably manage forests and halt deforestation, combat desertification, restore degraded land and soil, halt biodiversity loss, and protect threatened species.
SDG 15 - Protect, restore and promote sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems
Where does France stand ?
View the latest data on SDG15 indicators
Domestic challenges
France has an exceptionally diverse natural heritage. It is one of the world’s fifteen “megadiverse” countries. To qualify as megadiverse, a country must be home to at least 1% of the world’s endemic vascular species. This richness can be explained by the fact that France, as the world’s second largest maritime power, has five biodiversity “hotspots” in the Mediterranean and overseas. It is also one of the ten countries with the highest number of species classified as endangered according to IUCN criteria.
Around 10% of the world’s recorded species are found in France including 104,172 in mainland France and 96,629 in overseas territories. Every year, more than 600 new species are described - in other words discovered, identified, named and classified - in France, almost 80% of them in the overseas territories.
These figures confirm the richness of biodiversity in mainland France and the overseas territories, but also its fragility. France is the 6th country with the highest number of endangered species (2,268 endangered species are found in France), and 7,269 species found in the country benefit from legal protection status.
Adopting an ecosystem-based approach and combating environmental degradation also appear to be central issues in the conservation of biodiversity, in the face of land take.
The national approach does not overlap exactly with the targets of SDG15. This can be explained by the pre-existence of a national biodiversity conservation policy prior to the adoption of Agenda 2030.
9.1% of French land was built on in 2020. (INSEE)
France’s actions
The 1976 Nature Protection Law was a key stage in French society’s awareness of the importance of nature conservation, and the launch of a structured policy to preserve habitats and species. Dynamic partnerships between civil society and the authorities have enabled innovative processes to be put in place. The architecture of this policy is based on:
- effective systems for gathering and capitalising on biodiversity knowledge (such as the information system on nature and landscapes),
- an inclusive approach bringing together water, biodiversity and marine environment policies within a single dedicated department of the Ministry of Ecology, with joint financial support mechanisms;
- a strategy for creating protected areas based on the principle of conservation through use. It is implemented on a local basis and involves all stakeholders (elected representatives, farmers, hunters, NGOs) within the framework of national and local governance bodies;
- a national biodiversity strategy designed to create synergies between all elements of civil society, and in particular businesses, in order to carry out projects to promote biodiversity;
- in addition to remarkable species and areas, the emphasis is on the need to protect ordinary biodiversity, which is also vulnerable to land take, the fragmentation of environments and climate change. This has led to the introduction of blue-green infrastructure, which is being taken up at national level in land-use planning, and at European level in a nature policy aimed at restoring ecological continuity.
France’s biodiversity policy was supplemented by the law of 8 August 2016 for the Restoration of Biodiversity, Nature and Landscapes; it is based on six main principles:
1. ecological solidarity,
2. non-regression of biodiversity,
3. avoiding, reducing and offsetting impacts,
4. no net loss of biodiversity,
5. compensation for ecological damage,
6. sharing of benefits arising from the use of genetic resources.
This law also created a National Committee on Biodiversity (CNB) which became the reference point for information, discussion and consultation by the government on strategic issues relating to biodiversity.
Since 2019, the implementation of this national framework has been supported by the new French Office for Biodiversity, created by the 2019 law and resulting from the merger of the French Biodiversity Agency and the National Hunting and Wildlife Office. It provides support to public players but also works in close partnership with socio-economic players. It also aims to reach out to the public to involve people in supporting biodiversity.
Aware of its responsibility in terms of its exceptional natural heritage and the challenges posed by invasive alien species in the loss of biodiversity in mainland France and its overseas territories, in 2017 France adopted a National Strategy on Invasive Alien Species and an Action Plan to prevent the introduction and spread of invasive alien species for the period 2022-2030. This is accompanied by concrete measures to combat these species, which are a major threat to biodiversity.
As the largest occupier of State-owned land, the Ministry of the Armed Forces uses almost 275,000 hectares of land to maintain its operational capabilities. This land has been preserved, in particular from urban development and intensive farming. These areas, to which access is restricted, are often rich in flora and fauna, which is why around 80% of military land has been included in areas of remarkable biodiversity (protected areas or areas of ecological interest). Conservation of these areas is a major challenge for the coherence and sustainability of the network of protected areas in France, to which the Ministry of the Armed Forces contributes directly. The ministry has a long-standing commitment to biodiversity, based on partnerships established through local and national agreements to conserve biodiversity on its military lands. Since 2021, it has been developed through a ministerial strategy dedicated to the conservation of biodiversity by 2030.
France was one of the most ambitious delegations at COP15 in Montreal in 2022. Following the adoption of the international agreement, it drew up a National Biodiversity Strategy for 2030. The aim of this strategy is to halt and then reverse the collapse of biodiversity. It makes France’s commitment concrete by proposing 40 measures developed around 4 areas: reducing the pressures on biodiversity, restoring degraded biodiversity wherever possible, mobilising all those involved and guaranteeing the means to achieve these ambitions.
The forest and timber roadmap is a priority project of the France Nation Verte ecological plan and aims to rethink the forest of the future in all its elements, from upstream to downstream. It sets out five areas of work, based in particular on the 25 actions arising from the Forest and Timber Conferences held between October 2021 and March 2022:
- Better risk prevention and firefighting;
- Adapting forests to climate change;
- Sustainable forest management;
- Restoring and preserving biodiversity, ecosystem services and forest soils;
- Structuring and developing the sector to make better use of wood products.
As of 23 November 2023, 19 measures were operational and 6 were in progress.
Internationally
France has stepped up its efforts to combat deforestation. It is currently renewing its national strategy to combat imported deforestation, the first version of which led to the adoption of the European “zero-deforestation” regulation. It has joined the Amsterdam Declarations, which aim to put an end to the import of products that contribute to deforestation (National Climate Plan, 2017). In the wake of the Glasgow Leaders’ Declaration against Deforestation (2021) and the One Forest Summit (2023), France is spearheading innovative partnerships aimed at preserving vital carbon and biodiversity reserves in developing countries, particularly forests. Three “partnerships for forests, nature and climate” have been adopted with Papua New Guinea, the Republic of Congo and the Democratic Republic of Congo at COP28 (December 2023).
France is also active in multilateral negotiations on the protection of biodiversity. In 2022, COP15, held in Montreal under the Chinese presidency, adopted the Kumming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, an ambitious and historic agreement supported by France. . This framework provides for the protection of 30% of the land and 30% of the sea by 2030 (“30x30”).
All the obligations arising from these conventions are implemented at both European and French level. In particular, France has adopted a new national biodiversity strategy aligned with the objectives of the Kumming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, adopted at COP15 biodiversity (December 2022). The European Union has also adopted the Nature Restoration Law, which is Europe’s most ambitious piece of biodiversity legislation.
France is also involved in a number of multilateral biodiversity initiatives. It co-chairs the High Ambition Coalition for Nature and People with Costa Rica. With 118 members, this coalition aims to support developing countries in achieving the “30x30” target. It is also a member of various coalitions for the preservation of species, including the African Elephant Fund, which aims to support efforts to protect and combat poaching and ivory trafficking.
France’s development aid policies on biodiversity are mainly supported by the French Facility for Global Environment (FFEM) and the actions of the French Development Agency (AFD) targeting biodiversity. The Interministerial Council for International Cooperation and Development (CICID, 2023) defined biodiversity as the second priority of France’s official development assistance policy. This means doubling bilateral funding for biodiversity to €1 billion by 2025.
In 2022, after a two-year postponement due to the pandemic, COP15 was held in Montreal under the Chinese presidency and a historic agreement, welcomed by France, was reached on the global framework for biodiversity conservation. This framework provides for the protection of 30% of the land and 30% of the sea by 2030.
To achieve target 3 of SDG15, France is advocating the development of agro-ecological practices as part of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD), whose 16th Conference of the Parties will take place in December 2024.
At the One Planet Summit in January 2021, President Macron launched the Great Green Wall Accelerator. Hosted by the UNCCD Secretariat, the Accelerator is reinvigorating the Great Green Wall, an African initiative launched in 2007 to combat desertification in 11 Sahel States, from Senegal to Djibouti, with a multi-funder budget of €16 billion.
Finally, France is a member of the G20 Global Land Initiative which aims to halve the amount of degraded land in the world by 2040.