From endangered species and Hotspot Heroes, to ecotourism and a new biodiversity hotspot, these are the CEPF stories that most piqued your interest in 2016.

1. Story Map: CEPF Celebrates 15 Hotspot Heroes

To celebrate CEPF’s 15th anniversary, we recognized 15 conservationists from 15 of the world’s biodiversity hotspots. 

2. The North American Coastal Plain Recognized as the World’s 36th Biodiversity Hotspot

With some 1,500 endemic plants and more than 70 percent habitat loss, this region—stretching from northern Mexico to southern Maine—now fits the definition of a biodiversity hotspot.

3. Changing the Perspective: Wetlands, Not Wastelands

CEPF grantees are working to restore wetlands, which sustain biodiversity while providing livelihoods for more than one billion people.

4. Developing Ecotourism to Conserve Biodiversity in Tunisia

Tourism in Tunisia is growing and CEPF grantee Association Les Amis des Oiseaux is helping to ensure it developsresponsibly.

5. The Fate of the Addax in the Wild and Its Future Between Fences

In the last 30 years, the addax (Addax nasomaculatus)—an ungulate once found throughout the Sahelo-Saharan region of Africa—has gone from Endangered to Critically Endangered, and may soon become Extinct in the Wild.

6. Something to ‘Shell’ebrate: The Return of the Myanmar Roofed Turtle

CEPF grantee Turtle Survival Alliance is on a mission to save the Myanmar roofed turtle (Batagur trivittata), the second rarest turtle species on Earth.

7. Five Facts About the Critically Endangered Cat Ba Langur

Found only on an island off the coast of Vietnam, this monkey’s numbers have plummeted due to poaching, but conservation efforts are seeing results.

8. Endangered Indonesian Bird Feels the Heat to Reproduce

The maleo (Macrocephalon maleo) in Indonesia doesn’t build a nest or incubate its egg; rather, the Endangered bird buries it under volcanic sand.

9. Capacity Development Critical to Overcoming Conservation Challenges in the Eastern Afromontane

Maaike Manten gives an update on CEPF’s investment in the Eastern Afromontane biodiversity hotspot in western Africa, where she serves as the manager of CEPF’s regional implementation team.

10. Bringing Paradise Back to a Toxic Island

CEPF grantee IDEP Foundation is helping residents of a small Indonesian island restore the health of their home.​