Megadiverse Countries
Acronyms Areas Countries Marine Terms

Definition
17 countries which have been identified as the most biodiversity-rich countries of the world, witha particular focus on endemic biodiversity: United States of America, Mexico, Colombia,
Ecuador, Peru, Venezuela, Brazil, Democratic Republic of Congo, South Africa, Madagascar,India, Malaysia, Indonesia, Philippines, Papua New Guinea, China, and Australia.

Description
Megadiversity Countries is a term used to refer to the world’s top biodiversity-rich countries. Thiscountry-focused method raises national awareness for biodiversity conservation in nations withhigh biological diversity, with many species unique to a specific country. This concept
complements that of Biodiversity Hotspots and High-Biodiversity Wilderness Areas to achievesignificant coverage of the world’s biological resources and was first proposed in 1988. 1
Together, the Megadiversity Countries account for at least two thirds of all non-fish vertebrate
species and three quarters of all higher plant species. 2 This classification primarily aims todemonstrate how a small number of countries hold a large portion of global diversity andtherefore have a disproportionate political responsibility for conservation and biodiversity
management. The Megadiversity Country concept is based on four premises: 2
1. The biodiversity of each and every nation is critically important to that nation’s survival, andmust be a fundamental component of any national or regional development strategy;
2. Biodiversity is by no means evenly distributed on our planet, and some countries,
especially in the tropics, harbour far greater concentrations of biodiversity than others;
3. Some of the most species rich and biodiverse nations also have ecosystems that are underthe most severe threat;
4. To achieve maximum impact with limited resources, conservation efforts must concentrateheavily (but not exclusively) on those countries richest in diversity and endemism and most
severely threatened; resources invested in them for conservation should be roughly
proportional to their overall contribution to global biodiversity.

Supported byConservation InternationalYear of creation
1988 1

Coverage
The identified Megadiverse Countries are: United States of America, Mexico, Colombia,
Ecuador, Peru, Venezuela, Brazil, Democratic Republic of Congo, South Africa, Madagascar,India, Malaysia, Indonesia, Philippines, Papua New Guinea, China, and Australia.

Criteria
The principle criterion is endemism, first at the species level and then at higher taxonomic levels
such as genus and family. To qualify as a Megadiverse Country, a country must: 2
1. Have at least 5000 of the world’s plants as endemics
2. Have marine ecosystems within its borders.
The focus on endemism is in line with the IUCN’s “doctrine of ultimate responsibility”, whichholds that a country with the only populations of an endangered species has ultimate
responsibility for ensuring the survival of that particular species. Other secondary criteria havealso been taken into consideration, such as animal and invertebrate endemism, species
diversity, higher-level diversity, ecosystem diversity and presence of tropical rainforest
ecosystems. 2 Despite endemism being the main criterion, thresholds for the criteria are flexible
and countries have been considered individually based on all criteria.

Management
While there is no specific management associated with this concept, 17 countries rich inbiological diversity and associated traditional knowledge have formed a group known as the Like
Minded Megadiverse Countries. These include 12 of the above identified MegadiverseCountries. This group was formed in 2002 under the Cancun Declaration 3 to act as amechanism of cooperation on the conservation of biological diversity and traditional knowledge.

Business relevance
Legal and compliance – Since this is a country-focused biodiversity prioritisation approach,mainly to raise awareness, there is no legal protection or compliance associated with thedesignation itself. The legal and compliance requirements present within these countries will
relate to other designations of biodiversity importance present within each country, such aslegally protected areas.
Biodiversity importance – These countries are of global biodiversity value based on thenumber and the level of unique species present. However, these countries all contain areas ofhigh biodiversity importance as well as degraded land and urban areas. Detailed information isneeded on the distribution of biodiversity within these countries for site-scale assessment anddecision making.
Socio-cultural values – As these countries include a variety of human land-uses, rural andurban, as well as protected areas under a range of possible governance types, many social
and/or cultural values are likely to be present in some parts.

References & website

References & website
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Megadiversity Countries Rhinoceros Beetle Ecuador Rob Hamm

Rhinoceros beetle (Golofa sp.), Ecuador, one of the megadiverse countries.
RobHamm/Shutterstock.com

Category:
Biodiversity designations
Page last updated 24 December 2020