Rapid growth, poor land use strategies, uncontrolled tourism development, and regional and global demand for natural resources are altering the land and seascapes of North and Central America, home to four biodiversity hotspots and the most biologically important desert wilderness areas on Earth. Stretching south from California and its unique chaparral and redwood forests toward Panama through woodlands, deserts, and rain forests, this region is rich in unique and threatened wildlife, such as black howler monkeys, yellow-headed parrots, California condors, and rodents found nowhere else on Earth.