Madagascar and its neighboring island groups have an astounding total of eight plant families, four bird families, and five primate families that live nowhere else on Earth
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- 6.210 Endemic Threatened Birds 0
- 10.859 Area Protected (km 2 ) in Categories I-IV* 10.154
- 1,233,875 Hotspot Vegetation Remaining (km 2 ) 99,944
- 8,000 Endemic Threatened Birds 55
- 50,370 Area Protected (km 2 ) in Categories I-IV* 22,782
- Taxonomic Group Species Endemic Species Percent Endemism
†Recorded extinctions since 1500. *Categories I-IV afford higher levels of protection. overview Hugging the coastline along the far southwestern tip of the African continent, the 78,555 km²: Cape Floristic Region hotspot is located entirely within the borders of South Africa. It is one of the five temperate Mediterranean-type systems on the hotspots list, and is one of only two hotspots that encompass an entire floral kingdom (the other being New Caledonia). The vegetation on the Cape is dominated by fynbos (an Afrikaans word for “fine bush”), a shrubland comprising hard-leafed, evergreen, and fire-prone shrubs that thrives on the region's rocky or sandy nutrient-poor soils. Although the region was once covered by lush rain forest, climate changes around 15 million years ago resulted in the retreat of the forests. Trees were replaced by flammable sclerophyllous plants, and periodic fires became an integral ecosystem process. The Cape also includes several non-fynbos vegetation types. Of these, Renosterveld (Afrikaans for “rhinoceros veld,” referring to the presence of the black rhinoceros ( Diceros bicornis), that used to browse there but is now extinct in this region) is the most extensive, covering some 20 000 km². This plant community comprises a low shrub layer, usually dominated by the renosterbos ( Elytropappus rhinocerotis), with a ground layer of grasses and seasonally active bulbs. Today, trees are very rare in pristine Cape landscapes and true forests occupy a mere 3,850 km², mostly in moist, fire-protected sites on the southern coastal forelands and lower mountain slopes. The Cape forests, 10-30 meters tall, are essentially outliers of the Afromontane forests of the high mountains of tropical Africa. human impacts Today, a range of human activity seriously threatens the unique vegetation of the Cape Floristic Region. Agricultural expansion has reduced lowland habitats such as the Sandplain fynbos and Coast renosterveld by 83 percent and 48 percent of their original extent, respectively. Much of what remains exists in isolated fragments in a matrix of chemically treated agriculture. Agricultural development is encroaching on natural areas even in the mountains, where impoverished soils previously limited agriculture; farming of rooibos tea, ( Aspalathus linearis), honeybush tea ( Cyclopia spp.), cut flowers (mainly Proteaceae), and, of course, vineyards pose a significant threat to the remaining vegetation.
According to the World Database on Protected Areas, about 10,859 km², representing about 14 percent of the total land area, in the Cape Floristic Region is in protected areas, nearly all of it in IUCN categories I to IV. However, this land is far from representative of the hotspot's full diversity; while 50 percent of the mountain landscapes are conserved, only nine percent of the lowlands, which are the most vulnerable, are under some form of protection. Although the high costs of land purchase and park management activities have posed serious challenges to conservation in the region, a number of recent successes point to a more optimistic future for the hotspot's biodiversity. These achievements have helped to strengthen the already tremendous level of public awareness about the value of the province and its fauna and flora. Among many promising projects is an initiative called the Working for Water Programme, which focuses on the removal of alien plants to encourage the regeneration of native vegetation and protection of watersheds. The program has created 3,600 jobs in the region and led to the clearing of nearly 500 km² of alien growth, one of the most impressive efforts of its kind in the world. There have also been a number of triumphs in the establishment of new protected areas, including the Cape Peninsula National Park, the Cape Agulhas National Park, and the West Coast Biosphere Reserve. At a recent meeting in Suzhou, China, UNESCO recognized the importance of this region by declaring it a World Heritage Site for its "outstanding universal significance to humanity." Eight protected areas together comprise the Cape Floristic Region World Heritage Site, one of which includes Kirstenbosch National Botanical Garden, the first time that a botanical garden has been recognized as a world heritage site for its biodiversity. The areas included in the world heritage site are Table Mountain, Baviaanskloof, De Hoop Nature Reserve, Boland Mountain Complex, Groot Winterhoek Wilderness Area, Swartberg Complex, Boosmansbos Wilderness Area, and Cederberg Wilderness Area. These eight separate protected areas total more than 553,000 hectares, making this World Heritage Site the richest for plants in the world on a per area basis. It is hoped that UNESCO listing will help to encourage the 'biodiversity economy' in the region, and will promote eco-tourism and better planning and management of the region's incredibly rich natural resources, protected areas, and scenic landscapes for the benefit of all South Africans. Already, the Cape Action Plan for the Environment, a $6 million project funded by the GEF and World Bank, is supporting the development and implementation of a strategic plan for sustainable conservation of the hotspot's unique flora and fauna, and a $6 million investment by the Critical Ecosystem Partnership Fund is being used partially to support three mega-reserves: Baviaanskloof, Cederberg and Gouritz, and to build the capacity of previously disadvantaged local conservationists.
overview The Atlantic Forest or Mata Atlântica stretches along Brazil's Atlantic coast, from the northern state of Rio Grande do Norte south to Rio Grande do Sul. It extends inland to eastern Paraguay and the province of Misiones in northeastern Argentina, and narrowly along the coast into Uruguay. Also included in this hotspot is the offshore archipelago of Fernando de Noronha and several other islands off the Brazilian coast. Long isolated from other major rainforest blocks in South America, the Atlantic Forest has an extremely diverse and unique mix of vegetation and forest types. The two main ecoregions in the hotspot are the coastal Atlantic forest, the narrow strip of about 50-100 kilometers along the coast which covers about 20 percent of the region. The second main ecoregion, the interior Atlantic Forest, stretches across the foothills of the Serra do Mar into southern Brazil, Paraguay and Argentina. These forests extend as far as 500-600 kilometers inland and range as high as 2,000 meters above sea level. Altitude determines at least three vegetation types in the Atlantic Forest: the lowland forest of the coastal plain, montane forests, and the high-altitude grassland or campo rupestre 
human impacts There are two groups of Amerindian cultures in the Atlantic Forest: the Tupi, who live along the Brazilian coast and in the northern highlands, and the Guaraní, who live in the southern lowlands, in Brazil, Paraguay and Argentina. About 134,000 Tupi and Guaraní people live in the Atlantic Forest region, including all three countries, today. These societies have lived in the area for hundreds of years but the destruction of the Atlantic Forest in Brazil began in earnest in the 16th century, when Portuguese, Spanish and French colonial settlements were established along the Atlantic coast. Forests inland were cleared for timber, which was then traded for cattle to stock the ranches that were expanding along the major rivers. In the northeast, sugar plantations were established along the coast, leading to the near total destruction of the coastal forests. By the early 19th century, forests in Rio de Janeiro, Minas Gerais and São Paulo were being cleared for timber, cattle-ranches and, most especially, coffee plantations. The rapid of growth of the population in the region led to urbanization, an increased demand for charcoal and firewood, and further forest clearing. Rapid economic development in Brazil during the “economic miracle” from 1960 to 1984 brought heavy industry to southeast Brazil, adding insult to injury with severe air and water pollution and its damaging effects on biodiversity and forests around the cities. The southeast is today the industrial center of Brazil, home to approximately 70 percent of Brazil’s 176 million people and enormous sprawling cities such as São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro and Belo Horizonte. Brazil is one of the largest wood pulp producers in the world, with much of the country's industrial forestry operations located in the states of Bahia, Minas Gerais and Espírito Santo in the heart of the Atlantic Forest Hotspot. Plantations are typically monospecific stands of eucalyptus ( Eucalyptus spp.). Although recent legislation has restricted the clearing of the remaining primary forests for plantations, enforcement is difficult and logging is still an insidious and pervasive activity, gradually destroying the remaining fragments of the forests that once covered the entire region. The narrow strip of coastal forest in northeastern Brazil has all but gone—only about three percent remains. The best-preserved areas of forest in Brazil survive on the steep slopes of the coastal Serra do Mar mountains in Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo and Paraná. Argentina’s Misiones province has a greater proportion of its original forest cover remaining (about 45 percent or 10,000 km²). However, is too is rapidly being degraded and fragmented, which has placed the region's biodiversity at risk. Principle activities there include the intensification and expansion of agriculture, including the cultivation of yerba maté (Ilex paraguariensis) and tobacco; logging; clearing for plantation forestry by large pulp and paper operations; and the proliferation of small farms due to the influx of landless peasants from other regions of Argentina, besides Brazil and Paraguay. Although 13 percent (11,618 km²) of Paraguay's original forest cover still exists, the forests have been intensively clear-cut in recent years. It is being deforested to make way for agricultural development and rural settlements, and its remaining forest patches are highly fragmented. The end result is that destruction and degradation of the Atlantic Forest over the last 50 years has been at least as severe as that of the previous three centuries. Only about eight percent remains of the unbroken tropical and subtropical forests which formerly covered more than 1,233,875 km².
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