World Wildlife Fund

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Wild World

Explore the Global 200 and Terrestrial Ecoregions of the World

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Marine Ecoregions of the World

Background

In the oceans, as on land, biodiversity does not conform to political boundaries.

Conservation efforts must take into account the patterns and processes of nature and therefore must be based on an understanding of the location and distribution of species and their habitats.

Conservation planning, particularly at global and regional scales, can benefit directly from the science of biogeography. Biogeographic maps allow scientists to understand better the distribution of biodiversity; to overlay the threats to biodiversity; and to measure progress in the efforts to protect biodiversity. They are critically important in supporting representative conservation: in the absence of detailed species or community inventory data biogeographic subdivisions are the best available tool for describing geographic variation in biodiversity and hence for ensuring that all communities and the widest possible array of species are addressed by conservation actions.

Terrestrially, a detailed and widely used system of realms and ecoregions has been in place for a number of years. Marine environments have lagged behind and until now there was no single global classification that addressed the complexity of coast and shelf biodiversity with a level of detail sufficient to support marine conservation planning.

Recognizing this gap, TNC teamed up and formed a Working Group to devise a system of Marine Ecoregions of the World (MEOW). Like WWF and TNC, our Working Group partners recognize the need for such a classification system. Their review and commentary have been critical in devising what we believe is the most detailed and robust marine biogeographic classification available to date.