More than a third of the planet’s plant and animal species exist on a mere 1.4 percent of its land surface, according to a new study published in today’s issue of the journal Nature. The British-American research team that produced the report said the findings indicate that saving a large share of the world’s species from extinction isn’t an overwhelming task. The researchers identified 25 “hot spots” where conservation efforts should be concentrated, mostly tropical rainforests, including areas in Madagascar, Brazil, the tropical Andes, the Caribbean, and Borneo, Sumatra, and other islands in Southeast Asia. “The whole point of this is that for a few hundred million dollars a year, focused on these hot spots, we can go a long way toward guaranteeing maintenance of the full range of diversity of life on Earth,” said Russell Mittermeier, president of Conservation International and one of the study’s authors.
