Click on the map for more detail on the Island of New Caledonia
. the Royal Botanic Gardens Edinburgh Araucaria website. The aim
of this site is to introduce the research that we are carrying
out and disseminate information on this fascinating group of
conifers. New Caledonia is regarded as one of the world's
'biodiversity hotspots'. Of the 3000+ vascular plants, 77% are
endemic. The conifer biodiversity is particularly important, all
of the 43 conifer species are endemic, representing almost 7% of
the world's conifers. This is remarkable considering the small
size of New Caledonia (19000km2). Mineral mining coupled with
timber exploitation, land clearance and increased fire frequency
have resulted in 29 species of conifer being considered as
threatened under IUCN classification. There are 13 species of
Araucaria on New Caledonia (all endemic), 11 of which are
classed Browse the roll-over image to the right for a glimpse of
this diversity and the species status. research at RBGE: We are
adopting a multi-disci