Earth is home to 1.2 million known species of plants and animals. But they aren’t evenly distributed. Conservationists have identified 36 ‘biodiversity hotspots’. Which are both biologically rich and under severe threat from development and pollution. Though these places represent just 2.5% of Earth’s land area they support 43% of bird, mammal, reptile and amphibian species as endemics, which means they live nowhere else. They also provide 35% of the ‘ecosystem services’ on which people depend.