Targeted investment in nature’s most important places
Why are biodiversity hotspots important?
There are places on Earth that are both biologically rich and deeply threatened. For humanity’s sake, we must work to protect them.
Biodiversity is the foundation of healthy natural systems: The species and ecosystems that make up life on Earth support the functions that humans depend on.
But our planet’s biodiversity faces an existential crisis. Unsustainable farming and mining, urbanization, pollution, climate change — they’re all tearing at the fabric of life on our planet. . Today, species are vanishing at the fastest rate since the mass extinction of the dinosaurs.
To stem this crisis, we must protect the places where biodiversity lives. But species aren’t evenly distributed around the planet. Certain areas have large numbers of “endemic” species — that is, species that live in one specific place and nowhere else. Many of these are heavily threatened by habitat loss and other human activities. These areas are the “biodiversity hotspots”: 36 regions where success in conserving species can have an enormous impact in securing our global biodiversity and ecosystem health.
The forests and other remnant habitats in hotspots represent just 2.5% of Earth’s land surface. But you’d be hard-pressed to find another 2.5% of the planet that’s more important.
What Are Biodiversity Hotspots?
To qualify as a biodiversity hotspot, a region must meet two strict criteria:
First, it must be home to at least 1,500 endemic species of plants — in short, it must have a high percentage of plant life found nowhere else on Earth.
Second, it must have 30 percent or less of its original natural vegetation.
In other words, a biodiversity hotspot must be irreplaceable and threatened.
The 36 areas around the world that qualify as hotspots represent just 2.5% of Earth’s land surface, but they support more than half of the world’s plant species as endemics — i.e., species found no place else — and nearly 43% of bird, mammal, reptile and amphibian species as endemics.
Why Do Biodiversity Hotspots Matter?
Conservation International was a pioneer in defining and promoting the concept of hotspots. In 1989, Conservation International adopted the idea of protecting these incredible places as the guiding principle of our work. Today, our mission has expanded beyond the protection of hotspots. We recognize that it is not enough to protect species and places — for humanity to thrive, the protection of all of nature must be foundational to every society.
Yet the hotspots remain important in our work for two important reasons:
First: Biodiversity underpins all life on Earth. Without species, there would be no air to breathe, no food to eat, no water to drink. There would be no human society at all. And as the places on Earth where the most biodiversity is under the most threat, hotspots are critical to human survival.
Second: The map of hotspots overlaps with the map of the natural places that most benefit people. That’s because hotspots are among the richest and most important ecosystems in the world — and they are home to many vulnerable populations who are directly dependent on nature to survive. By one estimate, despite composing 2.5% of Earth’s land surface, the forests, wetlands and other ecosystems in hotspots account for 35% of the “ecosystem services” that humans depend on.
Frequently Asked Questions
Our plan
From Indonesia to Madagascar, from Brazil to Southeast Asia, a majority of Conservation International’s global field offices are in or near biodiversity hotspots. We continue to work to protect these places for the benefit of people around the world.
What’s more, Conservation International is an investor in the Critical Ecosystem Partnership Fund. CEPF is an alliance of leading conservation donors that provides grants to nonprofit and private-sector organizations that are working to protect biodiversity hotspots and improve human well-being.
To explore the world’s 36 hotspots, access GIS data and learn more about what CEPF and partners are doing to protect these vital places, visit CEPF’s website at the link below.
