Islands and biodiversity
Islands and biodiversity
As significant – and vulnerable – repositories of the world’s biodiversity, islands are central to global conservation efforts.
Islands are stewards for more than 17% of the Earths total area, including many of the most unique and vulnerable plants, animals and ecosystems.
Islands are home to:
- Over half of the world's marine biodiversity
- 7 of 10 of the world's coral reef hotspots
- Thousands of bird species found nowhere else
- A quarter of the ecological regions of highest terrestrial priority
- 10 of 34 richest areas of biodiversity in the world
- More than half of all known extinctions
