Biodiversity hotspot Facts for Kids

A biodiversity hotspot is a special place on Earth. It's a biogeographic region that has a lot of different kinds of plants and animals. But these areas are also in danger because of human activities.

The idea of biodiversity hotspots was first talked about by Norman Myers in 1988 and 1990. Later, in 2000, he and others refined the idea. They published a paper in the journal Nature and a book called "Hotspots: Earth's Biologically Richest and Most Endangered Terrestrial Ecoregions."

To be called a biodiversity hotspot, an area must meet two main rules:

It must have at least 1,500 different kinds of vascular plants that are found nowhere else in the world. These are called endemic species. This is more than 0.5% of all plants on Earth!
It must have lost at least 70% of its original natural plant life. This means a lot of its habitat is already gone.

Right now, there are 36 places around the world that fit this description. These hotspots are home to almost 60% of the world's plant, bird, mammal, reptile, and amphibian species. Many of these species are endemic, meaning they live only in that specific hotspot. Some hotspots have as many as 15,000 endemic plant species. Sadly, some have lost up to 95% of their natural habitat.

Even though they are so important, biodiversity hotspots cover only about 2.4% of the Earth's land surface. The first hotspots identified by Myers were only ten. The current 36 hotspots used to cover more than 15.7% of all land. But they have lost about 85% of their original area. This loss of habitat is why so much of the world's land-based life now lives in such a small area. For example, Caribbean Islands like Haiti and Jamaica are losing many of their unique plants and animals because of rapid deforestation. Other areas like the Tropical Andes, Philippines, Mesoamerica, and Sundaland are also at high risk. If deforestation continues, they could lose most of their plant and animal species.

Protecting Hotspots

Only a small part of the land in biodiversity hotspots is currently protected. Many international groups are working hard to save these special places.

The Critical Ecosystem Partnership Fund (CEPF) helps non-government organizations. It gives them money and advice to protect the Earth's richest areas of plants and animals. This includes biodiversity hotspots.
The World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) created the "Global 200 Ecoregions" system. This system helps them choose important areas for conservation. These areas are picked for having many species, unique species, or unusual natural features. All biodiversity hotspots contain at least one Global 200 Ecoregion.
Birdlife International has found 218 "Endemic Bird Areas" (EBAs). Each of these areas has two or more bird species found nowhere else. They have also found over 11,000 Important Bird Areas worldwide.
Plant life International helps manage programs to find and protect "Important Plant Areas."
The Alliance for Zero Extinction is a group of scientists and conservationists. They work together to protect the most endangered unique species in the world. They have found 595 important sites, many of which are also Birdlife's Important Bird Areas.
The National Geographic Society has made a world map of the hotspots. This map includes details about the endangered animals in each hotspot. You can find this information from Conservation International.
The Compensatory Afforestation Management and Planning Authority (CAMPA) works to control the destruction of forests in India.

Where Hotspots Are Found

Biodiversity hotspots. Original proposal in green, and added regions in blue.

Most of the world's biodiversity is found in tropical areas. This means most biodiversity hotspots are also in the tropics. Out of the 36 hotspots, 15 are called OCBILs. These are old, stable areas that have been separated from other climate zones for a long time. However, human activities are now putting these historically safe hotspots at risk. Protecting OCBILs is important because they have high levels of biodiversity. They also have stable groups of species and the potential for many new species to develop in the future.

North and Central America