Threatened evergreen sclerophyllous forests, scrubs or woodlands biome

Nature

Sclerophyllous (also known as Mediterranean) shrublands and woodlands occur in only five parts of the world, yet host more than one-fifth of all known plant species on Earth.

Incidence

Evergreen sclerophyllous forests, scrubs, and woodlands—characterized by tough, drought-resistant foliage—are increasingly threatened across the Mediterranean Basin, Australia, California, and South Africa. These biomes face significant decline due to urban expansion, agricultural conversion, invasive species, and intensifying wildfires, with the Mediterranean region alone losing over 2.5 million hectares of such habitats since 2000. Their fragmentation and degradation have global ecological implications, including biodiversity loss and reduced carbon sequestration.
In 2021, catastrophic wildfires in Greece and Turkey devastated large tracts of Mediterranean sclerophyllous forests, destroying thousands of hectares of habitat and threatening endemic plant and animal species.

Claim

The rapid loss of evergreen sclerophyllous forests, scrubs, and woodlands is an urgent crisis that demands immediate global attention. These unique biomes are irreplaceable reservoirs of biodiversity, climate regulation, and soil protection. Their destruction accelerates species extinction, worsens climate change, and destabilizes entire ecosystems. Ignoring this problem is reckless and short-sighted—protecting these threatened habitats must be a top conservation priority for the survival of our planet and future generations.