Protecting South Africa’s reserves: Is it too late?
Did you know that South Africa is the third most biodiverse country in the world? Its diverse range of biomes - from forests to deserts, estuaries and marine systems, is home to over 95,000 known species. Many of these plants and animals are classified as “endemic”, meaning that they only occur in one specific geographic are. This so-called “endemism”, combined with species richness, is one of the key factors in the global prioritisation of conservation measures. South Africa’s extraordinary biodiversity means that its protection is not just a local concern, but a global one.