"HOT-SPOTS"
"Hot-spots" are biologically rich areas with high diversity
and a large percentage of endemic species. For example, 20% of the world's plants are found on 0.5% of the earth's
surface. Biological hot-spots include the Western Amazon (Colombia, Ecuador, Peru), Madagascar, North and eastern
Borneo, Northeastern Australia, West Africa, and the Brazilian Atlantic forrest. All of these areas have high diversity
and many are threatened by human activities.
Global Biodiversity Hotspots
1. The Tropical Andes (Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Bolivia)
2. Madagascar
3. Brazil's Atlantic Forest Region
4. The Philippines
5. Meso-American forests
6. Wallacea (eastern Indonesia)
7. Western Sunda (in Indonesia, Malaysia, and Brunei)
8. South Africa's Cape floristic region
9. The Antilles
10. Brazil's Cerrado
11. The Darién and Chocó of Panama, Colombia, and Western Ecuador
12. Polynesia and Micronesian Island complex, including Hawaii
13. Southwestern Australia
14. The Eastern Mediterranean region
15. The Western Ghats of India and the island of Sri Lanka
16. The Guinean forests of West Africa
17. New Caledonia
18. Eastern Himalayas
19. Southeastern Australia and Tasmania
The WWF "Global 200"
In 1998, the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) devised a conservation
strategy to replace the biodiversity hot-spots first set forth by Myers 1977. The "Global 200," as the
strategy is known, expands the world's global conservation priorities to 233 eco-regions, comprising Earth's 19
terrestrial, freshwater, and marine major habitat types. By preserving these eco-regions, the majority of Earth's
biological diversity would be protected. For a complete listing of the Global 200, see Appendix 2.
