Geoguessr
If you are dropped on a road in Latvia and see a forest covering more than half the landscape, what is the term for this "untouched" or original state of forest that SDG 15 aims to protect?
Primary Forest
In terms of land coverage, this single human activity is responsible for roughly 80% of all global deforestation.
Agriculture
What is the teaspoon rule?
One teaspoon of healthy soil contains more organisms than the entire planet
If Matvejs plants a tree and spends the rest of the day taking selfies with it, is he helping SDG 15 or his ego?
He is helping SDG15 as planting a tree counts as afforestation
What does SDG stand for
Sustainable development goals
You see a "Green Wall" of trees stretching across the horizon in sub-Saharan Africa. This massive SDG 15-related project aims to stop this specific process of fertile land turning into desert.
Desertification
These geographic features cover only about 27% of the Earth's land, yet they act as "water towers" providing up to 80% of the world's freshwater.
Mountains
How much would it cost the global economy if all bees stopped working?
Matvejs claims he is "genetically superior" because he can survive a Latvian winter. If we were measuring the genetic variety within a single species (like "Matvejs-us Latviensis") to ensure it survives environmental changes, what is that called?
Genetic diversity
What does SDG15 aim to achieve?
Save animals on land
If the Google car is driving through a "Peatland" (common in the Baltics), what greenhouse gas are you looking at a "sink" for, considering these muddy areas store twice as much of it as all the world’s forests combined?
Carbon(carbon dioxide, acceptable as well)
While an individual tree can be massive, it is often out-scaled by the world’s largest single living organism: a 106-acre colony of "Quaking Aspen" trees in Utah that all share one identical this.
Root system
What would be the total cost for dirt in the world?
Half of the world's gdp, or 44 trillion usd
Matvejs refuses to pick up litter in the forest because he says it’s "adding texture to the ecosystem." What is the actual term for the degradation of land that makes it less productive or biologically diverse?
Land degradation
Most common ecosystem
drylands
When you see a landscape in South America or Indonesia being cleared for a monoculture crop, which specific "oil" plant is the leading cause of this tropical deforestation?
Palm oil
Even though they are microscopic, these organisms living in the soil are so abundant that their total weight (biomass) on Earth is estimated to be ten times greater than the weight of all 8 billion humans combined.
Bacteria
How much medicine is produced from plants?
25%
Matvejs thinks he’s a "rare specimen," but if he were an animal, he’d likely fall under which IUCN Red List category that indicates he is in absolutely no danger of disappearing?
Least Concern
How tall should a tree be for it to be officially considered a forest?
5 meters, and there should be at least an area of 0.5 hectares fully covered in them
In mountainous regions, the UN tracks the "Green Cover Index" because these landforms act as the world’s "Water Towers"—but what is the specific term for the man-made "steps" cut into hillsides to prevent soil erosion and land degradation?
Terraces
Which is the smallest and which is the largest animal conserved under SDG 15?
Perdita minima, African Elephant.
When does elevated terrain become classified as a mountain according to UN?
>300 meters
Matvejs claims his room is a "Protected Area." According to the UN, what is the #1 threat to biodiversity on actual islands (or isolated rooms) that usually comes from outside?
Invasive Alien Species. (In this case, probably just Matvejs).
Where do crimes against wildlife place on the crime list based on how often they occur?