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E-02

Protect and regenerate key ecosystems

The world’s wetlands, peatlands and intact forests protected, and the damaged ones recovering.

7 organizations tracked  ·  0 vetted

The goal in brief

GoalThe world’s wetlands, peatlands and intact forests protected, and the damaged ones recovering.

of the world’s wetlands lost since 19701
−22%
of carbon stored in peat soils2
600+ billion t
of tropical rainforest lost in 20253
4.3 million ha

Why it matters

Since 1970 the world has lost 22% of its wetlands,1 and in 2025 alone it lost 4.3 million hectares of tropical rainforest.3 These places lock away huge amounts of carbon (peat soils hold more than all the world’s other vegetation combined), filter our water and shelter wildlife.2

How we’ll know it’s done

Finish line
At least 30% of the world’s degraded land, freshwater and coastal ecosystems under effective restoration by 2030, the global biodiversity target.4
What counts
Places that stay intact or measurably recover, with water, trees and wildlife coming back. Protection on paper alone doesn’t count.
How it’s checked
Satellite maps of forest and wetland cover, plus countries’ reports to the UN biodiversity convention.
Our part
We’ll fund this once our vetting team vets an organization working on it.

What follows

  • Carbon kept locked in peat and old forests instead of released into the air.E-08Establish global climate equilibrium
  • Safe homes for endangered animals and plants.W-01Protect endangered and critical species
  • Wetlands that filter and store fresh water.H-03Establish universal access to clean drinking water
  • Wetlands and forests that soak up floodwater and soften disasters.H-14Establish a global resilience fund for disaster relief and prevention

How it can be solved

The approaches to this goal, and how many of the organizations taking each one we’ve vetted.

  • Conservation deals with communities

    Funding schools, clinics or livelihoods in return for communities protecting their forests.

    2 organizations

  • Indigenous-led protection

    Indigenous peoples securing and guarding the lands they have always cared for.

    1 organization

  • Rangers and wild places

    Patrolling, restoring and safeguarding intact wild places and the species in them.

    3 organizations

  • Forest carbon finance

    Selling carbon credits to pay for keeping standing forests standing.

    1 organization

Who’s working on it

We only call a solution proven, measurable and scalable once our vetting team has vetted it. Everything else here, the team is tracking.

Vetted0 organizationsReviewed by our vetting team, and passed all three tests.

  • Proven

    It has worked, with results to show.

  • Measurable

    Its impact can be counted.

  • Scalable

    It can grow toward the size of the goal.

None on this goal yet. When our vetting team vets an organization working on it, it appears here with its vetting report.

Not vetted7 organizationsTracked by our vetting team. Not vetted yet, so we make no claims about them.

Listing an organization isn’t an endorsement. Not vetted means just that: our vetting team is tracking it, and we make no claims about it yet. Last reviewed October 2026.

Know a solution we’re missing?

Submit a solution that tackles a goal on Humanity’s Checklist.

  1. Tell us about it in a short form.
  2. Our Solutionary Team reviews every submission.
  3. If it looks like a fit, we’ll start vetting the project.
Submit a project (opens in a new tab)

Sources

  1. 1. Ramsar Convention Secretariat, Global Wetland Outlook 2025 (2025) (opens in a new tab)
  2. 2. IUCN, “Peatlands and climate change,” IUCN Issues Brief (opens in a new tab)
  3. 3. World Resources Institute, “Tropical Rainforest Loss Drops 36% in 2025, but Fires Threaten Global Progress” (29 April 2026) (opens in a new tab)
  4. 4. Convention on Biological Diversity, Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, Target 2 (2022) (opens in a new tab)