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Top 10 Most Endangered Forests In The World
Top 10 Most Endangered Forests In The World
At least 30% of the world’s tree species are threatened with extinction due to climate change. Most of all, ebony, rosewood, magnolias, and ash trees are cut down. It causes them to be called endangered.
When forests disappear, it’s everyone’s concern. More and more areas of the world are being turned into plantations, farms, and industrial sites, taking over irreplaceable habitats.
In this article, Here is the list of the top 10 most endangered Forests in the World
1. Coastal forests of East Africa
Top 10 Most Endangered Forests In The World
The Coastal Forests of Eastern Africa Biodiversity Hotspot stretches along the eastern edge of Africa and includes parts of Somalia, Kenya, Tanzania, and Mozambique. All islands lying immediately offshore are also part of the hotspot Pemba, Zanzibar, Mafia, and the Bazaruto Archipelago among them.
2. Mountains of southwest China
Top 10 Most Endangered Forests In The World
The Mountains of Southwest China in the Asia-Pacific region, with the temperate coniferous forests support a wide array of temperate flora, and the endemic species include the endangered giant panda, entirely restricted to these shrinking forests, the red panda, a smaller relative of the giant panda, and many species in the river systems. Illegal hunting, overgrazing, and firewood collection are some of the primary threats to biodiversity here. The construction of the Three Gorges Dam, the largest dam, along with other dams on the rivers, has destroyed all but just 8% of the original habitat.
3. The Philippines
Top 10 Most Endangered Forests In The World
The Philippines is made up of over 7,000 islands, all of which were once heavily forested.
Over 6,000 plant species can be counted in the tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests. There are many bird species, such as the Philippine eagle, the second largest eagle in the world, as well as amphibians here. The small amount that is left is home to the Panther Flying Frog and the second largest eagle in the world. These two species do not exist anywhere else.
The place is being rapidly cleared for farming and the accommodation of the rising population, besides being logged for timber products, leaving about 7% of the original habitat.
4. Madagascar & Indian Ocean Islands, Africa
Top 10 Most Endangered Forests In The World
Madagascar and the Indian Ocean Islands hotspot is made up of islands scattered in the Indian Ocean, approximately 400 kilometers off the Southeast coast of Africa. The island of Madagascar is a part of this hotspot, as well as Seychelles, Comoros, and Mauritius.
Madagascar & Indian Ocean Islands do not share the animal group endemic to Africa, despite the close proximity. It consists of tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests.
5. California Floristic Province, North America
Top 10 Most Endangered Forests In The World
The California Floristic Province is a floristic province with a Mediterranean-type climate located on the Pacific Coast of North America with a distinctive flora similar to other regions with a winter rainfall and summer drought climate like the Mediterranean Basin. This biodiversity hotspot is known for being the home of the Sierran giant sequoia tree and its close relative the coast redwood. In 1996, the Province was designated as a biodiversity hotspot allowing it to join ranks among 33 other areas in the world with many endemic species. To be named a biodiversity hotspot, an area has to contain species and plant life that cannot be found anywhere else in the world. The California Floristic Province is home to over 3,000 species of vascular plants, 60% of which are endemic to the province.
The California Floristic Province belongs to the Madrean Region of the Holarctic (or Boreal) Floristic Kingdom.
6. Atlantic Forest, South America
Top 10 Most Endangered Forests In The World
The Atlantic Forest stretches from northeast Brazil, south along the Brazilian Atlantic coastline and inland into northeast Argentina and eastern Paraguay. Although only a small part of the original forests remains, it is still one of the most diverse ecosystems on the planet, second only to the Amazon.
7. Sundaland, Asia-Pacific
Top 10 Most Endangered Forests In The World
Sundaland, also called Sundaica is a biogeographical region of South-eastern Asia corresponding to a larger landmass that was exposed throughout the last 2.6 million years during periods when sea levels were lower. It includes Bali, Borneo, Java, and Sumatra in Indonesia, and their surrounding small islands, as well as the Malay Peninsula on the Asian mainland.
The area of Sundaland encompasses the Sunda Shelf, a tectonically stable extension of Southeast Asia’s continental shelf that was exposed during glacial periods of the last 2 million years.
8. Indo-Burma, Asia Pacific
Top 10 Most Endangered Forests In The World
The Indo-Burma hotspots in the Asia-Pacific region, with tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests, have birds, freshwater turtles, and fish species, including some of the world’s largest ones. Aquatic ecosystems comprise giant catfish and Jullien’s golden carp. While draining for wet rice cultivation destroy freshwater floodplain swamps and wetlands, dams flood sandbars and other habitats of fauna. Shrimp aquaculture ponds, overfishing, and other fishing techniques replacing mangroves have destroyed coastal and freshwater ecosystems, leaving 5% of the original habitat.
9. New Caledonia
Top 10 Most Endangered Forests In The World
New Caledonia is one of the smallest hotspots, located in the group of islands in the South Pacific at the southern extremity of the Melanesian region, east of Australia. The tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests house at least five endemic plant families, including the world’s only parasitic conifer and nearly two-thirds of the Araucaria trees.
10. Eastern Afromontane
Top 10 Most Endangered Forests In The World
Eastern Afromantane is located along the eastern edge of Africa, from Saudi Arabia in the north to Zimbabwe in the south, the Eastern Afromontane is home to flora like Podocarpus, Juniperus, bamboo, Hagenia, etc. Essentially, it consists of tropical, subtropical moist broadleaf forests, montane grasslands, and shrublands. It also harbors a variety of mammals, birds, and amphibians, with 617 fishes in the lakes. But, the expanding agriculture, especially large crop plantations like bananas, beans, tea, etc., growing bushmeat market, and increasing population have reduced it to 11% of its original habitat.
Top 10 Most Endangered Forests In The World
1. Coastal forests of East Africa
2. Mountains of southwest China
3. The Philippines
4. Madagascar & Indian Ocean Islands, Africa
5. California Floristic Province, North America
6. Atlantic Forest, South America
7. Sundaland, Asia-Pacific
8. Indo-Burma, Asia Pacific
9. New Caledonia
10. Eastern Afromontane
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