Conservationists see the Asia-Pacific as offering one of the world’s best opportunities to nurse the environment back to health.

Perhaps our best hope is in China, which is breaking records by the minute. It has the largest population and  the fastest-growing economy. It’s also forecast to become the number one greenhouse gas emitter by 2009, overtaking the United States a decade earlier than estimated. Chinese demand for timber, petroleum, minerals, fish, and other products to feed its prodigious growth create a “footprint” that is ever-increasing and threatening to wildlife and their habitats across the world’s land and oceans. Yet with the right economic incentives, advancements in renewable energy technology, and a more demanding public, China holds great potential to help control and reverse its impacts on the planet.

Nowhere else are those effects more visible than in Asia-Pacific, especially in the region’s waters. From the islands of Melanesia to the Indonesian archipelago to the rivers of Indo-Burma, warming temperatures combined with destructive human activities have wiped out entire species. Sharks that once swarmed the islands and reefs have nearly disappeared, a majority killed for their fins to be sold at wildlife markets. Coastal development and commercial fishing operations have generated huge amounts of pollution that has not only been harmful, but often deadly, to the region’s vibrant marine life.

Despite these concerns, paradise in Asia still abounds. The region’s clouded mountain peaks, pristine rivers, and lush forests harbor plants and animals unlike any other on Earth – 13 of the world’s biodiversity hotspots are located here, along with an important tropical wilderness and amazing seascapes.