Pictures: 10 Most Threatened Forest Hot Spots Named

Indo-Burma Region
Photograph courtesy Sitha Som, Conservation International
A boy in a basin navigates through a floating village in Tonle Sap Great Lake, Cambodia, on September 13, 2009.
The lakes, rivers, and floodplains of the Indo-Burma region (see map) crisscross one of the world's top ten at-risk forest biodiversity hot spots, according to a new ranking created by the nonprofit Conservation International. Biodiversity hot spots, first defined in 1988, are areas that conservationists deem most critical for saving species.
The areas included in the 2011 report each harbor at least 1,500 native plant species but have lost 90 percent or more of their original habitats. The report was compiled to coincide with the United Nations' International Year of Forests. (See "Tigers, Elephants Returning to War-Torn Cambodia Forest.")
Forests cover only 30 percent of the planet's area but are home to 80 percent of the world's land animals and plants, according to the conservation group. In addition to housing diverse species, forests provide "vital benefits" for humans, including timber, food, shelter, recreation, fresh water, and erosion prevention, according to Olivier Langrand, Conservation International's international policy chief.
"Forests are being destroyed at an alarming rate to give room to pastures, agricultural land, mineral exploitation, and sprawling urban areas, but by doing so we are destroying our own capacity to survive," Langrand said in a statement.
Published February 10, 2011
New Caledonia
Photograph by Mattias Klum, National Geographic
Covering an area about the size of New Jersey, the islands of New Caledonia (seen in a 2006 picture) make up one of the world's smallest forest hot spots.
Located in the extreme South Pacific, about 745 miles (1,200 kilometers) east of Australia, New Caledonia (see map) houses five native plant families—including the world's only parasitic conifer tree.
Nickel mining, forest destruction, and invasive species are threats to forest animals such as the rare kagu bird, according to Conservation International. (See "Rat Invasions Causing Seabird Decline Worldwide.")
Published February 10, 2011
Sundaland
Photograph by James P. Blair, National Geographic
Orangutans rest in the Sepilok Sanctuary in Sabah, Malaysia, on the island of Borneo. The island is part of the Sundaland hot spot (see map), an arc of some 17,000 islands that covers the western half of the Indo-Malayan archipelago.
Only about 7 percent of the region's original forest remains, most of it transformed into plantations for rubber, oil, and palm trees, according to Conservation International. The region's "spectacular" plants and animals, such as the orangutan, are declining due to agriculture and the black market wildlife trade. (Read about Asia's wildlife trade in National Geographic magazine.)
Published February 10, 2011
The Philippines
Photograph by Neil L. Rettig, National Geographic
An agitated Philippine eagle raises its head feathers in Mount Apo National Park in the Philippines in an undated picture. The world's second largest eagle is one of several species native to the Philippines forest hot spot (see map).
The hot spot is one of the most endangered areas due to extensive logging and farming by some 80 million people dependent on natural resources, according to Conservation International.
Published February 10, 2011
Atlantic Forest
Photograph by Frans Lanting, National Geographic
A male golden lion tamarin perches on a tree in Brazil's Poco das Antas Reserve in an undated picture.
The reserve is part of the Atlantic Forest (see map), a threatened biodiversity hot spot that encompasses parts of Paraguay, Argentina, and Uruguay. Due to sugarcane and coffee plantations, less than 10 percent of the region's forest is left. The remaining patches are home to more than two dozen rare animals—including the golden lion tamarin.
More than a hundred million people and several industries depend on the Atlantic Forest for their fresh water. Globally, more than three quarters of the world's accessible fresh water comes from forested watersheds, according to Conservation International. (Learn about freshwater threats.)
Published February 10, 2011
Mountains of Southwest China
Photograph courtesy Piotr Naskrecki, Conservation International
A red panda, pictured in Southwest China's Disney Mountains, is one of several species, including the giant panda, that are declining in these shrinking forests.
Only about 8 percent of the Southwest China forest hot spot remains pristine, due mostly to illegal hunting, overgrazing, and firewood collection, according to Conservation International. (Take an endangered-animals quiz.)
Published February 10, 2011
California Floristic Province
Photograph courtesy William Crosse, Conservation International
Light filters through a forest of redwoods and Douglas firs in the California Floristic Province (see map) in May 2009. The Mediterranean-like climate provides a home to the giant sequoia, the planet's largest living organism, and some of the last individuals of the rare California condor.
Commercial farming, which supplies half of the agricultural products for U.S. consumers, has destroyed much of the California wilderness, as has urban expansion, pollution, and road construction, according to Conservation International.
(Read about redwoods, the "super trees," in National Geographic magazine.)
Published February 10, 2011
Coastal Forests of Eastern Africa
Photograph by Anup Shah, Getty Images
A Zanzibar red colobus monkey leaps through a forest on the island of Zanzibar, part of the Coastal Forests of Eastern Africa hot spot (see map).
Fewer than 1,500 red colobus monkeys still inhabit the fragmented forests, which have been plagued by poor soil quality, agricultural development, and commercial farming, according to Conservation International.
(See pictures: "25 Most Endangered Primates Named.")
Published February 10, 2011
Madagascar and the Indian Ocean Islands
Photograph by Mark Thiessen, National Geographic
The mouse lemur (seen in a 2003 picture) is among the "exquisitely unique assemblage of species" that have evolved in isolation on Madagascar and the Indian Ocean Islands (see map).
Madagascar alone has more than 50 lemur species, though poverty and rapid population growth is putting tremendous pressure on the environment, according to Conservation International. (See "Lemurs Hunted, Eaten Amid Civil Unrest, Group Says.")
Threats include unsustainable agriculture, hunting, logging, and mining.
Published February 10, 2011
Eastern Afromontane
Photograph by Michael Poliza, National Geographic
Flamingos soar above Lake Natron, Tanzania, in a 2006 picture. The lake is part of the mountainous Eastern Afromontane hot spot (see map), which stretches along the eastern edge of Africa, from Saudi Arabia in the north to Zimbabwe in the south.
The geological turmoil that created the mountains also formed some of the "world's most extraordinary lakes," which are home to at least 617 native fish species. Dangers to the environment include agricultural plantations and a growing bush meat market, according to Conservation International.
(See "World Water Day Pictures: Epic Disappearing Acts.")
Published February 10, 2011