Endemic Bird Areas of the World: Priorities for biodiversity conservation

Biodiversity—the total variety of life on earth—is being lost at an increasing pace. Despite growing popular support to stem this loss, conservation is hindered because financial resources are limited and the knowledge of the distribution of most organisms is poor.

BirdLife International’s Endemic Bird Areas project makes a unique contribution to the identification of priorities for biodiversity conservation by using birds—one of the best known groups of animals—as indicators of areas of high endemism. Limited conservation resources can most effectively be directed at these places.