Sustainable Development Goals
Main SDG introduction
World leaders adopted the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and its 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) at a historic UN conference in September 2015. The SDGs call for action by all countries to promote prosperity while protecting the planet, thereby recognizing that ending poverty must go hand-in-hand with strategies to build economic growth, address social needs, tackle climate change and ensure environmental sustainability.
It is becoming increasingly clear that the sustainable management of productive forests in the tropics, and a sustainable tropical timber trade, can help in meeting future wood demand and achieving the SDGs. ITTO is empowered to promote the expansion of international tropical timber trade from legal and sustainable sources. It is perfectly placed, therefore, to assist countries in their efforts towards all the SDGs, especially SDG 1 (“No poverty”), SDG 12 (“Responsible consumption and production”), SDG 13 (“Climate action”) and SDG 15 (“Life on land”). Some of the ways it is doing this are outlined below.
Select one or multiple SDGs below to see ITTO’s contributions towards achieving them.
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Cordillera del Condor, Ecuador. Photo: Fundación Natura
Through its projects, ITTO is helping countries improve socioeconomic outcomes in tropical forests, where hundreds of millions of indigenous peoples and local communities live, often in extreme poverty. In its policy and field work, ITTO:
- Supports efforts to develop economic opportunities for women, young people and other vulnerable groups.
- Encourages community forestry, the development of locally based forest enterprises, local food security, and equitable benefit sharing.
- Helps build capacity in rural communities to manage forests sustainably and add value to forest products, thereby increasing local employment and improving local livelihoods.
- Promotes the economically viable restoration of degraded landscapes and the sustainable production of wood and wood-based energy.
- Enables forest owners and local communities to earn export income from sustainably produced wood and non-wood products.
ITTO works closely with all stakeholders to develop sustainable supply chains, which, among other things, help ensure that forest communities and locally based enterprises capture more of the value of tropical timber production. Social safeguards and gender guidelines are in place to ensure the inclusion of women and vulnerable groups.
Related ITTO contributions for the selected Sustainable Development Goal(s)
(38 results found)
Celebrating International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples—tropical forest custodians
No poverty Gender equality Responsible production and consumption Climate action Life on land
ITTO reiterates its commitment to fully recognizing and supporting the ownership, control, customary rights and role of local communities and Indigenous Peoples on forest land and resources. More
Sustainable forestry can provide vital nature-based solutions to crises
No poverty Zero hunger Industry, innovation and infrastructure Responsible production and consumption Life on land Partnerships for the goals
Sustainable forestry can provide cost-effective solutions to the triple global crises on climate, biodiversity loss and pollution, all of which have been aggravated by recent armed conflicts, according to speakers at a side-event held earlier this month that fed into the 2022 High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development. More
Celebrating the International Day of the Tropics—the critical importance of tropical forests
No poverty Quality education Decent work and economic growth Responsible production and consumption Climate action Life on land Partnerships for the goals
The tropics are home to extraordinary forests with the largest and most complex biological and cultural diversity while functioning as huge carbon stores. In celebration of the International Day of the Tropics, we describe some of ITTO’s work in three vital and vast tropical forest ecosystems—the Amazon, the Congo Basin and Southeast Asia. More
Fighting back against desertification and drought
No poverty Climate action Life on land
Women in Togo and communities in Papua New Guinea and Peru are restoring degraded drylands and helping drought-proof communities with assistance from ITTO. We highlight this work to promote the important messages of World Day to Combat Desertification and Drought. More
Peru’s private sector proposes forest-sector reforms
No poverty Responsible production and consumption Climate action Life on land Partnerships for the goals
Peru’s Forestry Chamber has released a new publication, developed with ITTO support, that takes stock of recent developments in the country’s legal framework and makes proposals to modernize the forest sector and increase its capacity to meet current and future challenges. More
Singing from the treetops on World Environment Day—local people can create renewable resources
No poverty Responsible production and consumption Climate action Life on land
An ITTO project in Sulawesi, Indonesia, has increased awareness among farmers of the benefits of a sustainable wood supply using planted native trees. It’s a functioning example of ITTO’s approach to tropical forest conservation and sustainable use aimed at producing positive outcomes for people and the environment, presented here to celebrate World Environment Day. More
ITTO Executive Director calls for positive messaging on timber
No poverty Responsible production and consumption Climate action Life on land Partnerships for the goals
ITTO Executive Director Sheam Satkuru has suggested that international organizations, governments and other stakeholders jointly promote the message that “harvesting timber sustainably is not deforestation” to overcome public misconceptions about the role of the timber trade in tropical deforestation. More
Togolese women are becoming restoration leaders, with ITTO and Soka Gakkai support
No poverty Zero hunger Gender equality Decent work and economic growth Climate action Life on land Partnerships for the goals
An ITTO project financed by Soka Gakkai* to support forest landscape restoration is changing the lives of women in two prefectures in Togo as they benefit from improved agroforestry practices, according to a report in Japan’s Seikyo newspaper. More
More outreach needed for uptake of forest landscape restoration in South America—webinar
No poverty Good health and well-being Climate action Life on land
Outreach and strategies for income diversification and monitoring are crucial for fostering landscape restoration in Latin America and the Caribbean, according to participants at a recent webinar co-hosted by ITTO and the Tropical Agricultural Centre for Research and Education (CATIE). More
Workshop explores key elements of successful forest landscape restoration in Asia-Pacific
No poverty Good health and well-being Climate action Life on land
Creating sustainable livelihood opportunities and obtaining the buy-in of local people through inclusive approaches are key for successful forest landscape restoration, according to participants at a virtual workshop for the Asia-Pacific region co-convened by ITTO and the Asian Forest Cooperation Organization (AFoCO). More
Local livelihoods the key to forest landscape restoration in Central America and Mexico—webinar
No poverty Good health and well-being Climate action Life on land
Forest landscape restoration is a multifaceted endeavour that must improve local livelihoods to succeed, according to participants at webinar for Central America and Mexico co-hosted by ITTO and the Tropical Agricultural Centre for Research and Education (CATIE) in August 2021. More
Developing the bamboo industry in Indonesia
No poverty Gender equality Industry, innovation and infrastructure Sustainable cities and communities Responsible consumption and production Life on land
There has been a paradigm shift in forest management in Indonesia, in which timber is no longer the main output. Instead, the forest sector is focused increasingly on the production of non-timber forest products as a means to improve the economies of forest communities, regions and the nation. More
Recovering from civil war and restoring forests in Côte d’Ivoire
No poverty Zero hunger Reduced inequalities Life on land Peace, justice and strong institutions
In the wake of a civil war, Côte d’Ivoire is seeking to bring people together, including through the restoration of degraded forests. An ITTO project there helped match restoration work in the gazetted forests of Scio and Duekoue with the humanitarian needs of internally displaced people, refugees and local people. More
Peru’s northern mangrove corridor
No poverty Zero hunger Clean water and sanitation Life below water
Peru’s Northwest–Amotapes–Manglares Biosphere Reserve provides important resources and ecosystem services for around 130 000 inhabitants living in coastal areas of Piura Province. It is under threat, however, from unsustainable practices and a lack of sufficient resources to support its conservation. More
Livelihoods, forest restoration and empowered women in Ecuador
No poverty Gender equality Clean water and sanitation Life on land
A project in Ecuador, Sustainable forest management in the Chimbo River basin, implemented by the SENDAS Foundation and financed by ITTO, has enabled local women to establish two forest nurseries and develop a production, marketing, training and awareness-raising plan to help reforest the river basin. More
Promoting legal and sustainable supply chains
No poverty Decent work and economic growth Industry, innovation and infrastructure Responsible consumption and production Climate action Life on land Partnerships for the goals
A supply chain comprises the organizations, activities and methods associated with all stages of the business processes involved in planning, sourcing, processing, manufacturing and delivering goods and services. A legal and sustainable supply chain is one that minimizes negative environmental and social impacts. More
Forest restoration, sustainable charcoal and empowered women in Côte d’Ivoire
No poverty Zero hunger Gender equality Affordable and clean energy Decent work and economic growth Reduced inequalities Responsible consumption and production Climate action Life on land
A small grant from ITTO in 2009 provided the stimulus for MALEBI, a women’s association in Côte d’Ivoire, to improve charcoal production using efficient, eco-friendly techniques, in the process increasing the standard of living in the local community and raising awareness of the importance of forest conservation. More
When micro businesses have macro impact
No poverty Quality education Gender equality Decent work and economic growth Industry, innovation and infrastructure Sustainable cities and communities Responsible consumption and production
In many countries, micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) are the largest collective source of employment, and they are vital for national economies. In Guatemala, it is a government priority to support MSMEs and, as part of this, an ITTO project known as the Forest MSME Management Project encouraged informal businesses to become part of the country’s formal economy. More