[ These 'perspectives' are intended to provoke thought and stimulate debate within UNDP and partner organizations. They do not necessarily represent UNDP's final word on these issues. This website will soon feature a discussion forum in which staff will be able to exchange opinion on these and other biodiversity issues. In the meantime, please send any comments and suggestions to biodiversity@undp.org ]
THE HOTSPOTS APPROACH
Context:
The concept of identifying certain areas of the globe as biodiversity 'hotspots' was introduced in 1988 by the ecologist Norman Myers. These hotspots were selected on the basis of the number of threatened endemic species (species that are found nowhere else) within them. Plant species were chosen as the yardstick of overall species diversity. According to the original definition, a hotspot must contain at least 0.5 per cent of the estimated 300,000 plant species on earth as endemics.
In a February 2000 article in Nature, Myers and other ecologists, including Russell Mittermeier of Conservation International, sought to formalize the list of earth’s hotspots. They called on conservation policymakers to channel efforts and resources into these areas – the areas in which they would have the greatest impact in terms of number of species rescued from extinction. The 25 hotspots they selected together comprise only 1.4 per cent of the earth’s surface, yet contain around 44 per cent of all species of higher plants and some 35 per cent of all land vertebrate species. Most, but not all, of these areas are found in tropical regions with high rates of human population growth. Recent studies have estimated that the 25 hotspots are home to some 1.1 billion people, the majority of whom are directly dependent on species-rich ecosystems for food, firewood, cropland, and income from wild-grown goods such as timber. Madagascar, for example (where 85 per cent of plant and animal species are endemic), is home to some of the world’s poorest people, many of whom have come to rely on slash-and-burn agriculture for subsistence farming. Other hotspots are found within wealthy countries and face different pressures: the islands of Hawaii, for example, contain many unique plants and animals that are threatened by introduced species and land development. Whatever the exact cause of environmental degradation within individual sites, an area must have lost more than 70 per cent of its original habitat in order to qualify as a hotspot. Thus the hotspots concept carries a sense of high threat as well as high species diversity.
UNDP Perspectives:
>> Don’t forget the ‘cold spots’
The hotspots approach to conservation is a valuable strategy for ensuring the maximum possible impact from limited means. Certainly, a focus on hotspots is likely to protect the highest possible number of species per unit area of habitat successfully conserved. But the sheer number of different species on earth is not the sole measure of global environmental health. An overemphasis on hotspots risks ignoring the need for the preservation of lower energy ecosystems which, while not especially rich in species diversity, are nonetheless essential to the functioning of the global environment. Moreover, biodiversity is every bit as important to the lives and livelihoods of resource-dependent peoples in species-poor areas – drylands, for example – as it is to those in highly ‘biodiverse’ areas. Indeed, those who make their lives in regions of low biodiversity are the most at risk from biodiversity loss: those with less have more to lose. The hotspots approach is thus not always the best way of identifying those areas of the globe that are most in need of urgent conservation action. For developmental as well as environmental reasons, therefore, UNDP supports a ‘holistic’ approach to conservation that pays due attention to species-rich ecosystems while also encompassing less diverse regions (drylands, arctic tundra, etc.).
"Those with less have more to lose...">> Expanding the hotspots approach: strengthening the human dimension
Accordingly, UNDP believes that the hotspots approach, while important for the channeling of financial and other resources, should be expanded to strengthen its focus on human needs. As per Professor Jeffrey Sachs’ proposal, priority areas would include anywhere that grinding poverty and environmental degradation appear locked in a downward spiral. While the current hotspots approach – with its emphasis on high threat as well as high diversity – has already identified many such sites, there are others which must be included if we are to address all the critical human / biodiversity>> Improving the hotspots approach: pro-poor conservation
A variety of conservation strategies are needed to protect the biodiversity within hotspots while ensuring a fair deal for the people who call them home. The establishment of traditional protected areas will play an important part. But innovative alternative strategies such as sustainable harvesting and payments for ecosystem services should also be encouraged. In addition, UNDP should assist local and national governments in their efforts to improve poor people’s access to information and participation in environmental decision-making within hotspots. Only thus can poor people be expected to invest in conservation while simultaneously improving their livelihoods. In hotspots as elsewhere, efforts to improve environmental management in ways that contribute to sustainable growth and poverty reduction must reflect the priorities of the poor and reward good stewardship of the environment.
[ These 'perspectives' are intended to provoke thought and stimulate debate within UNDP and partner organizations. They do not necessarily represent UNDP's final word on these issues. This website will soon feature a discussion forum in which staff will be able to exchange opinion on these and other biodiversity issues. In the meantime, please send any comments and suggestions to biodiversity@undp.org ]
Online resources:
Table of information on earth's biodiversity hotspotsBiodiversity Hotspots
Online resource on the subject of Hotspots and Wilderness Areas, hosted by Conservation International
IUCN Commission on Ecosystem Management
Provides expert guidance on integrated ecosystem approaches to the management of natural and modified ecosystems
WWF Global 200 Ecoregions
Provides a science-based global ranking of earth’s most biologically outstanding terrestrial, freshwater and marine habitats
Global International Waters Assessment
Website of the Global International Water Assessment, a programme on transboundary water areas sponsored by UNEP / GEF
Center for Biodiversity and Conservation
Link to the Center for Biodiversity and Conservation, an initiative of the American Museum for Natural History
>> Back to top
