Prospects for Sustainable Development and Conservation of Ecosystems in Belarus

10 million hectares of forest are destroyed every year, states the UN's 2022 SDG Report. This happens not only because of wildfires, but also because of unsustainable forest management - farming and clear-cutting for agriculture and logging. By adopting the 2030 Agenda, Belarus has also committed to achieving the objectives of SDG 15 "Life on land" and to protect natural terrestrial ecosystems which mitigate climate change, accumulate greenhouse gases, reduce summer temperatures by filtering air and provide many other ecosystem services.

What steps towards sustainable forest management have been taken in Belarus and what difficulties civil society is facing, among others, were investigated by NGO experts and described in the Shadow Report on SDG 15 "Prospects for Sustainable Development and Conservation of Ecosystems in Belarus". It reflects the current situation, analyses legislative initiatives and provides recommendations to the government and civil society for the achievement of SDG 15.

The report is available only in Russian.

The report was prepared within the project "Sustainable Development Lab” of the Berlin-based NGO Dekabristen e. V. in cooperation with experts from Belarusian NGO’s with the financial support of the German Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Information from this report was also included in the Belarusian Civil Society Report on Sustainable development goals implementation: Trends since 2016, which was presented at the High-Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development in New York in July.