Protecting Australian Forests

"Forests are the lungs of the earth and they need our protection."

With the vast majority of the world's forests already destroyed or degraded, Greenpeace is deeply committed to protecting what is left. Our experience of years working in the biggest forest regions of the world has positioned us well to push for the ambitious targets required to deliver forest protection at the speed and scale needed. Thanks to years of campaigning, governments and some companies have finally caught up to these goals and signed agreements aiming to stop deforestation once and for all.

We know, however, that these goals will only be fulfilled with continuous public pressure on government and business to ensure that immediate and concrete implementation is happening on the ground. That is why — for the benefit of the world’s forests – their peoples, biodiversity, carbon stock and other ecological values – and honoring the rights of Indigenous Peoples and other local communities living in forested landscapes, Greenpeace will work as part of a broader global movement to deliver the following goals:

1. Halt deforestation globally by 2020 (in line with UN Sustainable Development target 15.2)

2. Massively reduce forest degradation globally (prioritizing intact forest landscapes)

3. Restore 500 million hectares of native forests by 2030 (exceeding the CBD Aichi target 15 and the New York Declaration of Forests)

Our actions to protect and restore forests aim to make a decisive contribution to the Paris Climate agreement goal to keep global temperature change below a 1.5°C change, complementing efforts to phase-out fossil fuel emissions by 2050.

Pursuing these ambitious goals will require a fundamental mindset shift: from perceiving forests as a limitless resource to recognizing forests as a precious, finite network of life.