The megadiverse countries are a group of countries that harbor the majority of the Earth's species and are therefore considered extremely biodiverse. Conservation International identified 17 megadiverse countries in 1998.^[1][2][3] All are located in, or partially in, the tropics.

In 2002, Mexico formed a separate organization focusing on Like-Minded Megadiverse Countries, consisting of countries rich in biological diversity and associated traditional knowledge.^[4] This organization does not include all the megadiverse countries as identified by Conservation International.

[edit]Megadiverse countries

In alphabetical order, the 17 countries^[1] are:

Australia  Brazil  China  Colombia  Democratic Republic of the Congo  Ecuador

India  Indonesia  Madagascar  Malaysia  Mexico  Papua New Guinea

Peru  Philippines  South Africa  United States  Venezuela

[edit]Cancún initiative and declaration of like-minded megadiverse countries

On 18 February 2002, the Ministers in charge of the Environment and the Delegates of Brazil, China, Colombia, Costa Rica, India, Indonesia, Kenya, Philippines, Mexico, Peru,South Africa and Venezuela assembled in the Mexican city of Cancún. These countries declared to set up a Group of Like-Minded Megadiverse Countries as a mechanism for consultation and cooperation so that their interests and priorities related to the preservation and sustainable use of biological diversity could be promoted. They also declared that they would call on those countries that had not become Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity, the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety, and theKyoto Protocol on climate change to become parties to these agreements.

The current member countries of the Like-Minded Megadiverse Countries organization are as follows, in alphabetical order:

Bolivia  Brazil  China  Colombia  Costa Rica  Democratic Republic of the Congo

Ecuador  Indonesia  Kenya  Madagascar  Malaysia

Mexico  Peru  Philippines  South Africa  Venezuela