Megadiversity countries

Some areas in our planet are richer in biodiversity than others. Those areas with a higher density of different species are not necessarily where the environment is best protected –it is rather thanks to the type of ecosystem. Tropical rainforests are the top biodiversity-rich ecosystems: only the Amazon rainforest harbours one out of every ten known species of our planet.
Therefore, some countries have a major responsibility to protect this diversity, so the World Conservation Monitoring Centre of the UN Environment Programme (UNEP-WCMC) has been working on this issue since 1988. Up to now, it has identified 17 megadiverse countries, that is, those countries with the highest number of endemic species –at least 5,000 endemic plants.
The world’s top biodiversity-rich continent is America, with 7 megadiverse countries:
- Brazil
- Colombia
- Ecuador
- Unites States
- Mexico
- Peru
- Venezuela
Asia ranks the second, with 5 megadiverse countries:
- The Philippines
- India
- Indonesia
- Malaysia
- China
Africa ranks number three, with 3 megadiverse countries:
- Madagascar
- Democratic Republic of the Congo
- Republic of South Africa
Oceania ranks number 4, with 2 megadiverse countries:
- Australia
- Papua New Guinea
Europe has no megadiverse country.

Sources:

1. Biodiversity: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biodiversity
2. Biodiversity in the Amazon rainforest: http://wwf.panda.org/what_we_do/where_we_work/amazon/
3. World Conservation Monitoring Centre of the UN Environment Programme: http://www.unep-wcmc.org/
4. Megadiversity countries: http://www.biodiversitya-z.org/areas/26
5. Endemic species: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Endemism