 The Mediterranean basin is also one of the world's most endangered biogeographic regions; only 4% of the region's original vegetation remains, and human activities, including overgrazing, deforestation, and conversion of lands for pasture, agriculture, or urbanization, have degraded much of the region.Conservation International has designated the Mediterranean basin as one of the world's biodiversity hotspots.A great belt of deserts, including the Arabian desert, separates the Palearctic, Afrotropic and true Asian ecoregions.