Un récent article scientifique (
Gerold Kier, Holger Kreft, Tien Ming Lee, Walter Jetz, Pierre L. Ibisch, Christoph Nowicki, Jens Mutke & Wilhelm Barthlott: A global assessment of endemism and species richness across island and mainland regions. PNAS ) vient tout simplement de conclure que la Nouvelle-Calédonie occupe la première place mondiale en ce qui concerne la biodiversité terrestre végétale. :
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The island of New Caledonia ranks first on the biodiversity list. Covering an area comparable to the State of New Jersey, it is home to 3,270 plant species, 2,432 of which only occur on the island. These include Amborella, for example, the most primordial of all living flowering plants. But even unique bird species can be found here, such as the Kagu, the only surviving representative of an entire major group of animals. 'Maps such as ours only previously existed for individual continents,' Dr. Gerold Kier, project leader at the University of Bonn, says. 'With them you can calculate our "ecological footprint", for example, or ascertain which regions are particularly important for nature conservation in a worldwide comparison.'"
Jusqu'à présent nous étions plutot considéré comme un des
5 hotspots de biodiversité mondiale.
Cette richesse, unique au monde, nous nous devons de la préserver.
Espérons que nos dirigeants entendent un peu plus les scientifiques...
En savoir plus (en anglais) ...