, biodiversity hotspots are identified by conservationists as regions for maximum protection because they possess very high levels of species richness and a high degree of endemism, where species are confined to that region and found nowhere else . The sources also state that these hotspots are regions of accelerated habitat loss . While the specific 70% loss metric is a standard ecological criterion for defining these areas, the sources confirm that strict protection of these 34 global hotspots could reduce ongoing mass extinctions by almost 30 per cent . In contrast, sacred groves are tracts of forest set aside for religious and cultural reasons where all wildlife is given total protection .