The Northeast forms part of the Indo-Burma biodiversity hotspot that encompasses about 2 million square kilometres of tropical Asia east of the Indian subcontinent. The region includes all of Cambodia, Laos, and Vietnam, and nearly the entire territories of Thailand, Myanmar, and Bhutan. In addition, the hotspot covers part of Nepal, far eastern India, and extreme southern China, as well as several offshore islands such as Hainan Island in the South China Sea and the Andaman Islands in the Bay of Bengal. The region is still revealing its biological treasures: three large mammal species have been discovered in recent years. the hotspot has the world's highest diversity of freshwater turtle species. The region is home to three biosphere reserves, three Project Tiger reserves, two World Heritage Sites, two Ramsar wetlands, three Endemic Bird Areas (for more about these sites, browse down the panel on the left). And the region is also under threat -- from commercial interests looking for that elusive end to insurgency to ravage the region's natural resources.

Ecosystem
While the entire hotspot area was originally covered with broadleaf forests, only fragments now remain. A wide diversity of ecosystems is represented in these fragments, including wet evergreen, dry evergreen, deciduous, and montane forests. There are also patches of shrublands and woodlands found on karst limestone outcrops and scattered heath forests in some coastal areas. Today, less than 5 percent of the original habitat still stands in pristine condition, about 100,000 square kilometers. Another 10-25 percent of the forest, approximately 200,000 to 500,000 square kilometers, is considered mildly damaged but ecologically functional.