This is one of several research articles that gives scientific weight to the idea that governments should prioritise the protection of 25 regions of the world – dubbed 'hotspots' – where exceptional concentrations of endemic species are undergoing exceptional loss of habitat. The authors argue that in this areas threatened endemic species should be free from human activities.

The article’s lead author and main proponent of the hotspots thesis is Norman Myers who is at the University of Oxford, United Kingdom. He famously calls this approach the 'silver bullet' strategy for conservation. Myers' co-authors are from the NGO Conservation International and its offshoot, the Centre for Applied Biodiversity Science.

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