Global Context

Sustainable Development Goals developed by the United Nations is a call for action for a global partnership toward peace and prosperity for people and the planet. Nature-based solutions, such as pocket forests, offer communities opportunities to think globally and act locally. From improved soil health, to increased biodiversity, stormwater management, carbon storage, and improved air quality, pocket forests are one tool that communities can use to achieve a number of global Sustainable Development Goals.

The U.N. Decade on Ecosystem Restoration (https://www.decadeonrestoration.org/) recommends nature-based solutions such as pocket forests to contribute to achieving global ecological restoration goals which, “aims to prevent, halt and reverse the degradation of ecosystems on every continent and in every ocean. It can help to end poverty, combat climate change and prevent a mass extinction. It will only succeed if everyone plays a part.”

by UN Biodiversity

The Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework was adopted on December 18, 2022 at the 15th Meeting of the Conference of Parties to the UN Convention on Biological Diversity (COP15) https://www.cbd.int/article/cop15-final-text-kunming-montreal-gbf-221222, which includes four goals and 23 targets to be achieved by the year 2030.

Pocket Forests contribute to Targets 2 and 12:

Target 2: “Ensure that by 2030 at least 30 percent of areas of degraded terrestrial, inland water, and coastal and marine ecosystems are under effective restoration, in order to enhance biodiversity and ecosystem functions and services, ecological integrity and connectivity.”

Target 12: "Significantly increase the area and quality and connectivity of, access to, and benefits from green and blue spaces in urban and densely populated areas sustainably, by mainstreaming the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity, and ensure biodiversity-inclusive urban planning, enhancing native biodiversity, ecological connectivity and integrity, and improving human health and well-being and connection to nature and contributing to inclusive and sustainable urbanization and the provision of ecosystem functions and services.”