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KEY FINDINGS

Remaining Habitat

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


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HOTSPOTS IN CONTEXT | HOTSPOTS DEFINED | IMPACT OF HOTSPOTS | HOTSPOTS REVISITED | KEY FINDINGS | HOTSPOTS IN PERIL | CONSERVATION RESPONSES

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