Timeline by Lidia Morales

Life On Land #15

s1741644 — 2025-08-21 19:08:05 UTC

Goal #15 aims to protect, restore, and promote sustainable use of environments. This includes various different environments such as deserts, forests, and mountains. The goal aims to slow down biodiversity loss and land degradation, and to ensure long-term health and productivity of our ecosystems. I am interested in this topic because I have always loved all kinds of animals growing up, and I would like to help the animals and their habitats.

What is it?

s1741644 — 2025-08-21 19:18:48 UTC

This link gave more insight as to what exactly Life On Land aims to do. Not only does it inform me of its goals, but also how I can help achieve this goal!! After reading the targets and goals of this sdg, it made me wonder what led to its creation, when did we realize it was time to look after our earth??

Where it started..

s1741644 — 2025-08-21 19:31:43 UTC

Im not sure if this is the exact beginning, but its definitely tied to sdg #15. It starts in 1977, when a plan of action is set by the United Nations to fight against land desertification and degradation. Although they had a general foundation set down, the problem was only getting worse. In 1992 they elevated the desertification issue globally. Countries around the world worked to address this problem until 2018, when a strategic plan and framework was set down to achieve Land Degradation Neutrality. This issue can be grouped with the rest of the issues that are addressed by SDG #15.

What is degradation?

s1741644 — 2025-08-21 19:37:17 UTC

This goal seems to focuses a lot on land degradation, but I have no idea what that is. This gave me more insight on what exactly it is, and why it is so bad. Land degradation is the reduction in quality productivity of soil/land, caused by human activities and climate change. The erosion of soil can lead to food insecurity, habitat destruction, and increases flood and drought risks. Life On Land is so important to have as one of the sustainable development goals because it aims to reduce this issue.

What about wildlife?

s1741644 — 2025-08-21 19:47:37 UTC

Land degradation and desertification directly affects human and animal populations. It causes habitat loss, forcing the animals to relocate somewhere else. Relocating in a different habitat could increase competition for scarce resources, and can ultimately lead to extinction of certain species. Degraded habitats are less able to support a variety of wildlife, meaning they are a big reason catering towards loss of biodiversity.

The Role of Animals

s1741644 — 2025-08-21 20:01:38 UTC

Animals are a very essential organism to a balanced ecosystem. They provide pollination, pest control, and help with the movement and exchange of essential nutrients between organisms. They also serve as food source and also give us materials like wool and silk. Protecting the animals is so important for global food security and planetary health. Wildlife conservation groups are responsible for speaking out about how crucial it is to conserve wildlife, that is why SDG #15 is very useful. It guides governments and law makers into making the necessary approches.

Climate Change

s1741644 — 2025-08-21 20:02:23 UTC

Climate change is the shift in temperature and weather shifts. It can happen naturally, but human actions is the leading cause right now. Climate change can cause many natural disasters and also affects the ability to grow crops, housing, safety, and can hurt human and animal health. The main reason for this shift of temperature is carbon dioxide, as well as the result of humans burning fossil fuels like oil and gas. It could be reversed if we as a community switched over to more renewable energy sources and improve energy efficiency in buildings and transportation.

Pollution

s1741644 — 2025-08-21 20:02:56 UTC

Pollution is the effects of introducing contaminants into natural environments and can affect human health, ecosystems, and all living organisms. Pollutants can come in many forms such as solid, gas, liquid, and energy sources like light, noise, and heat. Although some pollution can be results from natural events, most of it is due to human doings, such as industrial waste, car emission, and littering. Pollution can be reduced by reducing the use of energy, driving less, disposing of chemicals properly, conserving water, and no littering.

Overexploitation

s1741644 — 2025-08-21 20:03:43 UTC

Overexploitation is the unsustainable harvest of different species at a rate that's faster than the natural population can replenish, and leads to declines in populations. Overexploitation happens to all species, including mammals, birds, reptiles, insects, amphibians, invertebrates, fish, and plants. Overexploitation ruins ecosystems and leads to loss of biodiversity. Reduce, reuse, and recycle can help with this problem, as well as using renewable resources and implementing sustainable resource management. Community efforts include preserving habitats by creating protected areas, and improving regulations for industries like fish and log companies.

Human-Wildlife Conflict

s1741644 — 2025-08-21 20:04:48 UTC

Human-Wildlife conflict is when humans and animals have dangerous interactions with each other that lead to negative outcomes. These negative interactions include damage to crops and property, livestock predation, injuries to humans, spread of disease, and generally impact the well-being of developing nations. Human and wildlife conflict/contact becomes more prevalent as loss of habitat increases and human population expands. This conflict can be prevented by taking small measures like avoiding leaving food outside that could attract animals, or putting up fences. Community-level strategies include habitat preservation and alternative resources.

Invasive Species

s1741644 — 2025-08-21 20:14:14 UTC

Invasive species are non-native plants, animals, bugs, and other organisms that could cause economic harm, environmental harm, or harm to human health. Since these species arent in their natural habitat, they tend to not have any natural predators to keep the population in check. They can cause native species to go extinct, and is the reason why it is a major drive to loss of biodiversity. Invasive species are often introduced to new habitats due to the transportation of people and goods. Although this conflict is usually accidental, its better if we as humans try our best to prevent these spreads by cleaning tools well and try to not misplace woods and plants.

Consumerism

s1741644 — 2025-08-21 20:16:20 UTC

Consumerism of wildlife is when people kill animals for food or their body parts. Consumerism can be driven by cultural beliefs, desire of status symbol, or perceived medicinal properties. Overconsumption of wildlife is one of the main drives to biodiversity loss. Not only is certain wildlife endangered, but the interaction of humans with wild animals put us at risk as well as sickness and diseases are carried by these animals. This cannot be fully stopped, but it can be prevented by embracing a minimalist lifestyle and only buy things that are necessary. Recycling is also a great help, aswell as buying secondhand.

Overhunting

s1741644 — 2025-08-26 03:16:01 UTC

Hunting isn't neccessarily bad, as some people do it for food, safety, and to keep populations in check. It becomes a problem when the hunting is excessive and is only done for sport and trophy's. Most people hunt to keep the body parts for skill.

Overfishing

s1741644 — 2025-08-26 03:17:36 UTC

Fishing is the biggest reason as to why ocean life is going extinct. Fish are very important, as they do not only feed other wildlife, but are also a huge source of protein and vitamins for humans. Overfishing is when people catch fish faster than the fish can replenish themselves. This is bad because if we were to run out of fish, it would be a disaster for the food chain and ecosystems.

The Wildlife Trade

s1741644 — 2025-08-26 03:19:28 UTC

Unsustainable wildlife trade is very profitable as well as harmful. Animals are illegally captured and poached in order to make things such as medicine, clothes, food, and pets. This is directly linked to animal extinction and is one of the largest threats to biodiversity.

s1741644 — 2025-08-26 03:22:36 UTC

I didn't know what the wildlife trade was before this but I am now realizing what it is and how bad it is. Wild animals are harvested for the illegal pet trade, traditional medicine, and body parts. It is pretty much impossible to put a complete stop on this trade, but there is ways to trade sustainably. It is important that we take care of our wildlife and resources and not abuse them. This trade is what leads to animals and plants to go extinct, and also leads to the abuse and neglect of many animals that are kept as "pets".

Where overexploitation is most prevalent

s1741644 — 2025-08-26 03:30:41 UTC

Animal trafficking is all over the world, but studies show it is most prevelant in Latin America. This is due to the regions high biodiversity like colorful parrots and exotic reptiles. The wildlife in Latin America and the Caribbean is nowhere else to be found, which is why the regions weak enforcement of wildlife protection laws makes it so easy to traffic these animals to places such as Europe, Asia, and the United States.

Illegal Wildlife Trade in Latin America

s1741644 — 2025-09-03 04:35:35 UTC

Trafficking in general is often overlooked in Latin America and the Caribbean. These regions hold 40-50% of the worlds biodiversity, and it is facing severe threats as it has been slowly dissapearing since 1970. Colombia is a key player in this trade, as it acts as a source, transit hub, and destination for trafficked wildlife. It poses a serious threat to biodiversity, global health, and national security.

Wildlife Crisis

s1741644 — 2025-09-03 04:36:38 UTC

I think I want to research the overexploitation of wildlife, more specifically the illegal wildlife trade, which must be addressed to reach SDG #15. I will focus on the country of Colombia and promote sustainable practices. I want to research this because it seems to be a big and prevalent problem that endangers alot of animals, and is directly linked to everything else SDG #15 is trying to resolve.

Question #1

s1741644 — 2025-09-04 03:27:27 UTC

How does land usage impact biodiversity and ecosystems in tropical regions?

Question #2

s1741644 — 2025-09-04 03:30:54 UTC

What community-based practices can be put into action to restore habitats and local eco-systems in regions where there is a lot of degraded ecosystems?

Question #3

s1741644 — 2025-09-04 03:32:43 UTC

What are the socio-economic and ecological impacts poaching has on communities?

Final RQ

s1741644 — 2025-09-04 03:35:13 UTC

What practices or policies should be implemented in Colombia to slow down or sustainably trade wildlife?

International airport

s1741644 — 2025-09-04 20:05:09 UTC

This article emphasizes the importance of El Dorado International Airport in Bogota, as that's a major transit point in the trafficking network. Millions of animals are trafficked yearly, frogs and primates being the most targeted and endangered. This issue calls for multifaceted and collaborative enforcement response, combining technological, legal, and community-based strategies.

Why it is so easy

s1741644 — 2025-09-04 20:14:46 UTC

This article provides information in a video. The video explains how wildlife traffickers in Colombia are able to do what they do. The trafficking is driven by sophisticated criminal networks that exploit gaps in enforcement, facilitated by corruption at various levels of governance. This includes permit falsification and abuse, allowing traffickers to bypass regulations with ease. A lack of reliable data and limited law enforcement capacity in Colombia’s Amazon and Pacific regions create significant vulnerabilities that traffickers exploit.