Despite occupying only three percent of the earth’s surface, the ASEAN region hosts 20 percent of all known species that live deep in the region’s mountains, jungles, rivers, lakes and seas. The region includes three mega-diverse states (Indonesia, Malaysia, and the Philippines); several bio-geographical units (., Malesia, Wallacea, Sundaland, Indo-Burma and the Central Indo-Pacific); and numerous centers of concentration of restricted-range bird, plant and insect species. ASEAN has one-third, translating to 284,000 square kilometers, of all coral reefs, which are among the most diverse in the world. Common land and water borders have allowed the ASEAN states to share many species that are biologically diverse from the rest of the world. All.
