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'Biodiversity hotspots are a method to identify those regions of the world where attention is needed to address biodiversity loss and to guide investments in conservation. First developed by Norman Myers in 1988 to identify tropical forest ‘hotspots’ characterized both by exceptional levels of plant endemism and by serious levels of habitat loss. Myers subsequently updated the concept in 1990, adding eight hotspots, including four in Mediterranean regions. Conservation International adopted Myers’ hotspots as its institutional blueprint in 1989, and in 1996, the organization made the decision to undertake a reassessment of the hotspots concept, including an examination of whether key areas had been overlooked. Three years later an extensive global review was undertaken, which introduced quantitative thresholds for the designation of biodiversity hotspots. Currently, 34 biodiversity hotspots have been identified, most of which occur in tropical forests. Between them they contain around 50% of the world’s endemic plant species and 42% of all terrestrial vertebrates, but have lost around 86% of their original habitat.'

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