Peru and Megadiversity
June 14, 2008
This is taken from a magazine on birdwatching:
Among the world’s 200 nations, just 17 countries are home to 70% of the biodiversity-the natural riches of the planet. This is the conclusion of a study presented by the environmental organization “International Preservation” on December 9, 1997 in Washington, D.C. The 17 countries considered “megadiverse” are located across four continents. Seven are in America: Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, U.S.A., Mexico, Peru and Venezuela. The other countries are South Africa, Madagascar, Democratic Republic of the Congo (formerly Zaire), Indonesia, China, Papua New Guinea, India, Malaysia, Philippines and Australia. “Just as the G7 countries (Group of Seven) own the greatest part of the economic wealth of the world, more than two thirds of the biological wealth of the planet is concentrated in these 17 megadiverse countries.
The American continent is considered the richest of all and has the largest area of natural environment still intact. Brazil is considered to have the greatest biodiversity, with 55,000 plant species which is equivalent to almost 22% of the approximate total plants existing in the world. Also it is the first for mammals (with 524 species), fresh water fish, insects, macaws and parrots. Colombia follows with 1,815 bird species out of the 9,000 on the planet. This country also has more amphibians than Brazil and is also second in plants and third in reptiles. Ecuador, the smallest of the 17, qualifies as megadiverse for the variety in ecosystems and for the species of birds and reptiles which it has on the Galapagos Archipelago.
Peru is not the largest country among the mega diverse nations. Nevertheless, it has the greatest concentration of ecosystems ranging from the most arid deserts on the planet on the Pacific coast to snow capped peaks of the Andes, forest clad mountainsides on the eastern Andes and tropical rain forests of the Amazon in the lowlands. The tropical rain forests of Peru are some of the most extensive still found on earth, and its portion of the Amazon (almost 700,000 Km2) is the fourth largest rain forest in the world. Peru is one of the first 7 megadiverse countries originally selected, due to its high levels of biodiversity and endemic species among certain organisms. Depending on the system applied, Peru has 11 ecoregions (Brack, 1987), 15 biogeographic provinces (CDC, 1987), or 84 of the 101 life zones described by Holdrige, having the highest concentration of Holdrige zones of any one country. In analyzing the number of species, it places third among vertebrates, excluding fish (2,873 species), second in diversity of birds (1,710 species), fourth place for mammals (466 species), first for butterflies (3,532 species) and third place for endemic species (350).
For more information on how to visit Peru and to enjoy a once-in-a-lifetime adventure, visit www.perugoldtours.com
