This is a technical policy brief for the HLPF on Sustainable Development Goal 15 prepared by the Forest Peoples Programme and produced by the Indigenous Peoples Major Group for Sustainable Development. SDG 15, with its environmental dimensions, is a critical measure of overall progress against the 2030 Agenda, as well as a key enabler of many other goals and targets. Importantly, it is also central to the lives and well-being of many indigenous communities, pastoralists and others traditionally viewed as excluded, marginalized or at ‘risk of being left behind.’ It is also central to providing environmental support services critical to ensuring, amongst others, safe and sustainable water supplies and mitigating climate change. Biological and cultural diversity together increase resilience to social, environmental and climate changes.