What are biodiversity hotspots and why do they matter?

The Earth is home to 1.2 million known species of plants and animals. However, these species are not evenly distributed. Conservationists have identified 36 “biodiversity hotspots,” which are both biologically rich and under severe threat from development and pollution.

Hotspots range from the Mediterranean basin to the mountains of Central Asia, and from the islands of the Caribbean to South America’s vast Cerrado. To qualify as a hotspot, a place must be home to a high percentage of plant life found nowhere else on the planet, and the place must be under threat, with native vegetation cover depleted to 30% or less.

Though these places represent just 2.5% of Earth’s land area, they support 43% of bird, mammal, reptile and amphibian species as endemics, which means they live nowhere else. They also provide 35% of the “ecosystem services” on which people depend, such as food, water, and clean air.

Conservation International is working in all 36 hotspots, along with the Critical Ecosystem Partnership Fund, an alliance of donors which provides grants to help restore them.

Biodiversity is crucial to life on Earth, underpinning our food systems and our air and water cycles. Species are disappearing at the fastest rate since the extinction of the dinosaurs, and it is time to recognise the economic value of ecosystems.