SDG 15 · Life on Land

The world has lost 41 million hectares of forest since 2015.

Eco Heroes turns that fact into a story a 9-year-old can hold onto: Exodus, book 15 of 17 in the SDG Library.

The target, in plain language

What the UN actually promised

Target 15.2

By 2020, promote the implementation of sustainable management of all types of forests, halt deforestation, restore degraded forests and substantially increase afforestation and reforestation globally.

Another passed deadline. Over the past 35 years, the world's forests have shrunk by 203.1 million hectares.

Target 15.5: take urgent action to halt the loss of biodiversity and protect threatened species from extinction. By 2025, 44 per cent of warm-water reef-building corals were at high risk of extinction.

Why it matters

The number behind the story

41M ha

of forest lost since 2015 Part of a 203.1-million-hectare loss over 35 years. And the extinction risk for species keeps rising.

Source: The Sustainable Development Goals Report 2026, UN DESA. Figures as published in July 2026.

The story

Exodus

Written by David Fernández Sifres (Premio Barco de Vapor) · Illustrated by Ester García

Book 15 of 17 in the Eco Heroes SDG Library, one illustrated story for each UN Sustainable Development Goal. Included with any Eco Heroes plan (families from €79 a year + VAT: €95.59 with 21% Spanish VAT; the VAT and the total that apply to you are shown before you pay); SDG 1 is free to try. Published in English, Spanish, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Catalan, Danish, Dutch, Japanese, Korean and Chinese.

Reading guide: questions, vocabulary and activities →

Bring it into the room

Talk about it, try it

Discuss

One question to ask after reading

“Which wild animal or plant near where you live would you most hate to lose? What does it need to survive?”

Try it: 15 minutes

Ten-square-metre safari

Mark out a small patch of grass, park or schoolyard and count every living thing you can find in 15 minutes. Compare patches: which is richest, and why?

Watch

The short mission video

April and Karim walk through this goal in a short video, with subtitles in your language.

Transcript

Everything said in the video, in order, with the words and figures shown on screen.

Version for ages 9–12

April: Forests, soil and every species. An Eco Heroes mission.
On screen: An Eco Heroes mission · Goal 15 · ages 9–12
On screen: See something real
April: Nature is everywhere, even in a crack in the pavement. What happens to the animals when a forest disappears?
On screen: A real question is where every mission starts.
On screen: Investigate the system
Karim: Life on Land is a system, not a headline.
On screen: 10M ha of forest are lost every year — an area the size of a country. (Source: FAO, 2020)
On screen: 1M species are threatened with extinction, many within decades. (Source: IPBES, 2019)
On screen: ½ of the world's habitable land is used for farming, squeezing wild nature. (Source: FAO, 2023)
On screen: Step 4 · Meet someone who understands it
Karim: 10 million ha of forest are lost every year — an area the size of a country. 1 million species are threatened with extinction, many within decades. Ask the people who know: a park ranger, a beekeeper, a gardener.
April: Your mission — Backyard Biologist. Discover the wild life on your doorstep. Do: Find and record 10 living things near you.
On screen: Prove: Draw or photograph 3 of them.
On screen: Reflect: Which depends on which?
April: Bring it to school.
On screen: Bring it to school: Show your class what you found. One finding from each of you becomes a map of your town.
April: Show your class what you found. Discuss it at home.
On screen: Discuss it at home: Tell your family what you did and ask them one question about it. Information fades — questions travel.
April: Tell your family what you did and ask them one question about it. Take action locally.
On screen: Take action locally: Pick the one action from your mission you can do this week — and tell one person why.
Karim: A true story — The Woman Who Planted Trees. It's the little things citizens do.
On screen: Small hands. Real problem. Real change.
Karim: That's what will make the difference. Wangari Maathai. 17 goals, 13 languages, one hero: your child. eco-heroes.org
On screen: eco-heroes.org/game

Version for ages 13–17

April: Wild nature is shrinking.
On screen: An Eco Heroes mission · Goal 15 · ages 13–17
On screen: Notice something real
April: It doesn't have to. Monitored wildlife populations have shrunk by 73% on average since 1970. What happens to a whole ecosystem when one species disappears?
On screen: Hard questions are where real missions start.
On screen: Map the system
Karim: Nature is a system: forests, soil, farming, trade and what we eat. Every year about 10.9 million hectares of forest are cut down and turned to other
On screen: 10.9M hectares of forest are cut down every year. (Source: FAO, 2025)
On screen: 48,646 species are threatened with extinction. (Source: IUCN Red List, 2025)
On screen: 73% average drop in wildlife populations since 1970. (Source: WWF, 2026)
On screen: Step 4 · Talk to someone who knows
Karim: uses. Interview someone who knows: a park ranger, an ecologist, a farmer.
April: Your mission — Biodiversity Survey. Count the life in one patch of your neighbourhood.
On screen: Do: Mark out one square metre and log every plant, insect and bird for a week.
On screen: Prove: Compare a wild patch with a mown or paved one.
On screen: Reflect: What would bring more life back here?
April: Take it to school.
On screen: Take it home: Ask your family what nature they remember from their childhood.
On screen: Act where you live: Upload your sightings to a citizen-science app or join a planting day.
On screen: Real data. Real questions. Real change.
April: Share your data and propose a wild corner for your school grounds. Then take it home, and act where you live.
Karim: A true story. It's the little things citizens do. That's what will make the difference. Wangari Maathai. 17 goals, 13 languages, your move. eco-heroes.org

A real example

China's Loess Plateau restoration miracle

In the Loess Plateau in China, one of the world's most eroded landscapes was restored through terracing, tree planting and community farming changes. Within 15 years, a barren plateau became green — lifting 2.5 million people out of poverty.

Quick check

Test yourself

What is biodiversity?Show the answer

A type of diet
The variety of all living things and ecosystems on Earth
A rainforest only
An organic farming method

Answer: The variety of all living things and ecosystems on Earth — Biodiversity refers to the variety of all living things — genes, species and ecosystems — that form the web of life on Earth.

The current rate of species extinction is estimated to be 1,000 times higher than natural background rates.Show the answer

Answer: True — We are in the sixth mass extinction — species are disappearing 1,000x faster than natural processes, primarily due to habitat loss.

What is deforestation?Show the answer

Planting more trees
Large-scale clearing of forests without adequate replanting
A forest festival
Cleaning up parks

Answer: Large-scale clearing of forests without adequate replanting — Deforestation is the large-scale removal of forests — it drives biodiversity loss, climate change and soil erosion.

Go further

Lesson plan for this goal → The book in the library → An activity for this goal → Play the SDG trivia →

Seventeen goals, seventeen stories

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