Threats to Biodiversity

Our planet’s biodiversity faces a critical juncture, imperiled by escalating threats such as habitat loss, climate change, pollution, invasive species, and rampant overexploitation. Deforestation, urban sprawl, and agricultural expansion systematically fragment and erode natural habitats, pushing numerous species toward extinction. Climate change accelerates this crisis, drastically altering habitats and unsettling ecological balances vital for species’ survival. Pollution from industrial discharge and agricultural runoff contaminates ecosystems, posing lethal threats to wildlife across the globe.

Furthermore, unsustainable harvesting of natural resources—whether through illegal logging, overfishing, or wildlife poaching—depletes species at rates far surpassing their natural recovery. Invasive species, meanwhile, invade and dominate new territories, outcompeting native flora and fauna. The combined effects of these pressures are reducing biodiversity and undermining ecosystems’ resilience to adapt to future stresses, making the need for urgent, concerted conservation efforts more critical than ever. The score in the Threats to Biodiversity pillar reflects how well a country’s biodiversity is faring, by measuring the extent of threatened and declining species, their coverage by protected areas, and the pressures posed by invasive species and overfishing. A higher score means that a country’s biodiversity is more intact and with better long-term prospects, with a score higher than 80 representing exemplary performance at the Threats to Biodiversity pillar

The higher the score, the better the country ranks for this parameter.

The table is sorted from the highest score to the lowest:

Rank	Country	Score	Change
1	Botswana	86	N/A
2	Lesotho	85	N/A
3	Niger	85	N/A
4	Zimbabwe	84	N/A
5	Luxembourg	82	N/A
6	Burundi	81	N/A
7	Central Af. Rep.	81	N/A
8	Chad	81	N/A
9	Eswatini	81	N/A
10	Bulgaria	80	N/A
11	Zambia	80	N/A
12	Belarus	79	N/A
13	North Macedonia	79	N/A
14	Mali	78	N/A
15	Moldova	78	N/A
16	Mongolia	78	N/A
17	Tajikistan	78	N/A
18	Uganda	78	N/A
19	Romania	77	N/A
20	Rwanda	77	N/A
21	Burkina Faso	76	N/A
22	Georgia	76	N/A
23	Serbia	76	N/A
24	Switzerland	76	N/A
25	Uzbekistan	76	N/A
26	Ethiopia	75	N/A
27	Malawi	75	N/A
28	Paraguay	75	N/A
29	Kenya	73	N/A
30	Lithuania	73	N/A
31	Slovakia	73	N/A
32	Bolivia	72	N/A
33	Hungary	72	N/A
34	Nepal	72	N/A
35	Armenia	71	N/A
36	Belize	71	N/A
37	Saint Lucia	71	N/A
38	Turkmenistan	71	N/A
39	Finland	70	N/A
40	Grenada	70	N/A
41	St. Vincent and the Grenadines	70	N/A
42	East Timor	69	N/A
43	Gambia	69	N/A
44	Azerbaijan	68	N/A
45	Eritrea	68	N/A
46	Jordan	68	N/A
47	Kyrgyztan	68	N/A
48	Oman	68	N/A
49	Slovenia	68	N/A
50	Albania	67	N/A
51	Bosnia and Herz.	67	N/A
52	Congo	67	N/A
53	Dominica	67	N/A
54	Kuwait	67	N/A
55	Laos	67	N/A
56	Montenegro	67	N/A
57	Qatar	67	N/A
58	Saudi Arabia	67	N/A
59	Algeria	66	N/A
60	Bhutan	66	N/A
61	Brunei	66	N/A
62	Cameroon	66	N/A
63	Czech republic	66	N/A
64	Djibouti	66	N/A
65	Guinea-Bissau	66	N/A
66	Mozambique	66	N/A
67	Tonga	66	N/A
68	Ukraine	66	N/A
69	Afghanistan	65	N/A
70	Egypt	65	N/A
71	Sudan	65	N/A
72	Tanzania	65	N/A
73	Austria	64	N/A
74	Estonia	64	N/A
75	Namibia	64	N/A
76	Netherlands	64	N/A
77	Sierra Leone	64	N/A
78	South Africa	64	N/A
79	United States	64	N/A
80	Vietnam	64	N/A
81	Antigua and Barbuda	63	N/A
82	Belgium	63	N/A
83	Dominican Republic	63	N/A
84	Fiji	63	N/A
85	Guatemala	63	N/A
86	Honduras	63	N/A
87	Latvia	63	N/A
88	Lebanon	63	N/A
89	Maldives	63	N/A
90	Malta	63	N/A
91	Nigeria	63	N/A
92	United Arab Emirates	63	N/A
93	United Kingdom	63	N/A
94	Denmark	62	N/A
95	Senegal	62	N/A
96	Venezuela	62	N/A
97	Bangladesh	61	N/A
98	Comoros	61	N/A
99	El Salvador	61	N/A
100	Israel	61	N/A
101	Jamaica	61	N/A
102	Mexico	61	N/A
103	Nicaragua	61	N/A
104	Poland	61	N/A
105	Trinidad and Tobago	61	N/A
106	Barbados	60	N/A
107	Cambodia	60	N/A
108	Canada	60	N/A
109	Costa Rica	60	N/A
110	Cyprus	60	N/A
111	DR Congo	60	N/A
112	Equatorial Guinea	60	N/A
113	France	60	N/A
114	Haiti	60	N/A
115	Iran	60	N/A
116	Marshall Islands	60	N/A
117	Pakistan	60	N/A
118	Samoa	60	N/A
119	Sri Lanka	60	N/A
120	Suriname	60	N/A
121	Tunisia	60	N/A
122	Bahrain	59	N/A
123	Colombia	59	N/A
124	Gabon	59	N/A
125	Russia	59	N/A
126	Seychelles	59	N/A
127	Vanuatu	59	N/A
128	Croatia	58	N/A
129	Greece	58	N/A
130	Guinea	58	N/A
131	Mauritania	58	N/A
132	Panama	58	N/A
133	Iraq	57	N/A
134	Italy	57	N/A
135	Liberia	57	N/A
136	Malaysia	57	N/A
137	Peru	57	N/A
138	Thailand	57	N/A
139	Togo	57	N/A
140	Benin	56	N/A
141	Brazil	56	N/A
142	Ireland	56	N/A
143	Sao Tome and Principe	56	N/A
144	Sweden	56	N/A
145	Uruguay	56	N/A
146	Angola	55	N/A
147	Chile	55	N/A
148	Ecuador	55	N/A
149	Mauritius	55	N/A
150	Morocco	55	N/A
151	Philippines	55	N/A
152	Australia	54	N/A
153	Bahamas	54	N/A
154	Iceland	54	N/A
155	Germany	53	N/A
156	Guyana	53	N/A
157	Indonesia	53	N/A
158	Madagascar	53	N/A
159	Myanmar	53	N/A
160	New Zealand	53	N/A
161	Japan	52	N/A
162	Kazakhstan	52	N/A
163	Norway	52	N/A
164	Papua New Guinea	52	N/A
165	Portugal	52	N/A
166	Solomon Islands	52	N/A
167	Argentina	51	N/A
168	Cuba	51	N/A
169	South Korea	51	N/A
170	Singapore	50	N/A
171	Spain	50	N/A
172	Ghana	49	N/A
173	Ivory Coast	49	N/A
174	Cape Verde	48	N/A
175	Micronesia	48	N/A
176	Taiwan	48	N/A
177	India	45	N/A
178	Turkey	44	N/A
179	China	42	N/A
180	Kiribati	39	N/A