Key Findings

The 34 hotspots once covered a land area of 23,490,101 km², 15.7 percent of the Earth’s land surface, an area equivalent in size to Russia and Australia combined. This extent of habitat has now been reduced by 86 percent to 3,379,246 km², a mere 2.3 percent of the planet’s land surface, equivalent in size to that of the five largest US states.

By definition, hotspots have lost at least 70 percent of their native vegetation. Some hotspots have been more extensively impacted than others. Only 5 percent of the original habitat still exists in the Horn of Africa, Mediterranean Basin, Indo-Burma, and New Caledonia hotspots, and much of that is contained in fragmented landscapes.

Original extent, remaining habitat, and percentage of remaining habitat for each of the 34 hotspots

Hotspot	Original Extent (km²)	Remaining Habitat (km²)	Percentage Habitat Remaining
Atlantic Forest	1,233,875	99,944	8
California Floristic Province	293,804	73,451	25
Cape Floristic Region	78,555	15,711	20
Caribbean Islands	229,549	22,955	10
Caucasus	532,658	143,818	27
Cerrado	2,031,990	438,910	22
Chilean Winter Rainfall - Valdivian Forests	397,142	119,143	30
Coastal Forests of Eastern Africa	291,250	29,125	10
East Melanesian Islands	99,384	29,815	30
Eastern Afromontane	1,017,806	106,870	10
Guinean Forests of West Africa	620,314	93,047	15
Himalaya	741,706	185,427	25
Horn of Africa	1,659,363	82,968	5
Indo - Burma	2,373,057	118,653	5
Irano - Anatolian	899,773	134,966	15
Japan	373,490	74,698	20
Madagascar and the Indian Ocean Islands	600,461	60,046	10
Madrean Pine - Oak Woodlands	461,265	92,253	20
Maputaland - Pondoland - Albany	274,136	67,163	24
Mediterranean Basin	2,085,292	98,009	5
Mesoamerica	1,130,019	226,004	20
Mountains of Central Asia	863,362	172,672	20
Mountains of Southwest China	262,446	20,996	8
New Caledonia	18,972	5,122	27
New Zealand	270,197	59,443	22
Philippines	297,179	20,803	7
Polynesia - Micronesia	47,239	10,015	21
Southwest Australia	356,717	107,015	30
Succulent Karoo	102,691	29,780	29
Sundaland	1,501,063	100,571	7
Tropical Andes	1,542,644	385,661	25
Tumbes - Choc	274,597	65,903	24
Wallacea	338,494	50,774	15
Western Ghats and Sri Lanka	189,611	43,611	23

Hotspot	Original Extent (km²)	Remaining Habitat (km²)	Percentage Habitat Remaining
Atlantic Forest	1,233,875	99,944	8
California Floristic Province	293,804	73,451	25
Cape Floristic Region	78,555	15,711	20
Caribbean Islands	229,549	22,955	10
Caucasus	532,658	143,818	27
Cerrado	2,031,990	438,910	22
Chilean Winter Rainfall - Valdivian Forests	397,142	119,143	30
Coastal Forests of Eastern Africa	291,250	29,125	10
East Melanesian Islands	99,384	29,815	30
Eastern Afromontane	1,017,806	106,870	10
Guinean Forests of West Africa	620,314	93,047	15
Himalaya	741,706	185,427	25
Horn of Africa	1,659,363	82,968	5
Indo - Burma	2,373,057	118,653	5
Irano - Anatolian	899,773	134,966	15
Japan	373,490	74,698	20
Madagascar and the Indian Ocean Islands	600,461	60,046	10
Madrean Pine - Oak Woodlands	461,265	92,253	20
Maputaland - Pondoland - Albany	274,136	67,163	24
Mediterranean Basin	2,085,292	98,009	5
Mesoamerica	1,130,019	226,004	20
Mountains of Central Asia	863,362	172,672	20
Mountains of Southwest China	262,446	20,996	8
New Caledonia	18,972	5,122	27
New Zealand	270,197	59,443	22
Philippines	297,179	20,803	7
Polynesia - Micronesia	47,239	10,015	21
Southwest Australia	356,717	107,015	30
Succulent Karoo	102,691	29,780	29
Sundaland	1,501,063	100,571	7
Tropical Andes	1,542,644	385,661	25
Tumbes - Choc	274,597	65,903	24
Wallacea	338,494	50,774	15
Western Ghats and Sri Lanka	189,611	43,611	23