Help celebrate the International Day for Biological
Diversity. The focus for 2014 is Island Biodiversity.
Here are some interesting facts and figures about the importance of island biodiversity:
Headlines:
"One third of the world’s countries are islands"
"Islands constitute less than 5% of the Earth's landmass; yet, islands provide habitat for 20% of all bird, reptile and plant species"
"Islands also harbour more than 50% of the world’s known
marine biodiversity"
"Islands have higher extinction rates then mainland areas due
to the vulnerability of their endemic flora and fauna, combined with intensive
human use of islands"
"64% of all recorded extinctions in the last century happened
on islands"
