Conservation of biodiversity is of concern in all regions, with most countries having adopted the principles of the Convention on Biological Diversity. As a result, many have taken steps domestically to protect and conserve natural habitats and related biodiversity. The degree of success and national priority accorded to biodiversity varies widely across regions, however.
Latin America accords biodiversity a high priority, while Asia and the Pacific more recently accepted its legitimacy as an issue of both national and international concern. Both Europe and North America accord a high priority to the conservation of biodiversity, although the United States has not signed the Convention on Biological Diversity. Many African countries, with a view toward the economic potential of revenues from wildlife tourism, also recognize the need for biodiversity conservation.

Yet competition for scarce land resources and the rising demand for food production represent important constraints. Habitat loss caused by development pressure and the overexploitation of fisheries, ground-water depletion, and hunting are threatening biodiversity. Fish stocks in parts of North America and Europe have also been seriously depleted. One of the more pernicious effects world-wide of deforestation and the conversion of other natural lands such as woodlands and grasslands is the fragmentation of habitats and the negative effect this has on biodiversity.