Southeast Asia – which includes the countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN): Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam, as well as Timor-Leste – is an important region for wildlife and contains some of the world’s most important biodiversity hotspots. Countries such as Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines are regarded highly by divers and marine biologists for the wealth of marine life found in their waters.
However, there’s a lesser-known and more disquieting aspect to this region’s natural heritage. Barring marine species, most taxonomic groups studied so far are more threatened in Southeast Asia than anywhere else in the world. For example, the vast majority of the world’s “Critically Endangered” tortoise and freshwater turtle species occur in Southeast and South Asia, with wild populations of some of these species totalling fewer than one
