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Total number of amphibian, bird, mammal, reptile, and vascular plant species, by country
Brazil
59,851
Colombia
54,649
China
34,687
Indonesia
32,680
Mexico
28,836
South Africa
25,052
Venezuela
23,429
Ecuador
22,065
United States
21,474
India
21,020
Peru
20,081
Bolivia
19,561
Australia
17,974
Malaysia
17,171
Costa Rica
13,630
Thailand
13,340
Papua New Guinea
13,115
Congo, Dem Rep
13,107
Russian Federation
12,468
Viet Nam
12,034
Tanzania
11,906
Panama
11,484
Argentina
11,285
Madagascar
10,541
Philippines
10,127
Guatemala
9,927
Cameroon
9,921
Laos
9,411
Turkey
9,387
Paraguay
8,935
Iran
8,899
Myanmar
8,709
Nicaragua
8,642
Kenya
8,353
Nepal
8,213
Ethiopia
8,011
Guyana
7,672
Gabon
7,620
Cuba
7,159
Congo
6,970
Honduras
6,894
Mozambique
6,859
Angola
6,731
Kazakhstan
6,708
French Guiana
6,689
Brunei Darussalam
6,644
Uganda
6,492
Japan
6,484
Italy
6,309
Bhutan
6,216
Nigeria
6,132
Suriname
6,122
Dominican Rep
6,072
Chile
6,059
Zambia
5,981
Pakistan
5,977
Bangladesh
5,871
Spain
5,796
Haiti
5,716
Portugal
5,714
Source: World Conservation Monitoring Centre of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP-WCMC), 2004. Species Data (unpublished, September 2004).
"Rainforest" is used interchangeably with "rain forest" on this site. "Jungle" is generally not used.
Recent news
Beef consumption fuels rainforest destruction (02/16/2009)
Nearly 80 percent of deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon results from cattle ranching, according to a new report by Greenpeace. The finding confirms what Amazon researchers have long known – that Brazil's rise to become the world's largest exporter of beef has come at the expense of Earth's biggest rainforest.
How to save the Amazon rainforest (01/04/2009)
Environmentalists have long voiced concern over the vanishing Amazon rainforest, but they haven't been particularly effective at slowing forest loss. In fact, despite the hundreds of millions of dollars in donor funds that have flowed into the region since 2000 and the establishment of more than 100 million hectares of protected areas since 2002, average annual deforestation rates have increased since the 1990s, peaking at 73,785 square kilometers (28,488 square miles) of forest loss between 2002 and 2004. With land prices fast appreciating, cattle ranching and industrial soy farms expanding, and billions of dollars' worth of new infrastructure projects in the works, development pressure on the Amazon is expected to accelerate. Given these trends, it is apparent that conservation efforts alone will not determine the fate of the Amazon or other rainforests. Some argue that market measures, which value forests for the ecosystem services they provide as well as reward developers for environmental performance, will be the key to saving the Amazon from large-scale destruction. In the end it may be the very markets currently driving deforestation that save forests.
Amazon rainforest damage surges 67% in 2008 (12/20/2008)
The area of rainforest in the process of being deforested — razed but not yet cleared — surged in the Brazilian Amazon during 2008, according to new figures released by Brazil's National Institute for Space Research (INPE). The announcement comes shortly after the Brazilian government reported a 4 percent increase in forest clearing for the year. Using an advanced satellite system that tracks changes in vegetation cover INPE found that 24,932 square kilometers of Amazon forest was damaged between August 2007 and July 2008, an increase of 10,017 square kilometers -- 67 percent -- over the prior year.
Cutting deforestation can fight climate change, reduce poverty and conflict (09/24/2008)
Forest conservation can play a critical role in efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and alleviate poverty, said a prominent group of politicians, development experts, and environmental NGOs meeting in New York City to discuss U.S. climate policy.
Future threats to the Amazon rainforest (07/31/2008)
Between June 2000 and June 2008, more than 150,000 square kilometers of rainforest were cleared in the Brazilian Amazon. While deforestation rates have slowed since 2004, forest loss is expected to continue for the foreseeable future. This is a look at past, current and potential future drivers of deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon.
