The Maputaland-Pondoland-Albany Biodiversity Hotspot, located along the east coast of southern Africa, below the Great Escarpment, is the second richest floristic region in southern Africa (after the Cape Floristic Region). Some 1,900 endemic plant species are found here, of which 534 are classified as either Vulnerable, Endangered or Critically Endangered per the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.

Approximately 18 million people live in the portions of the three countries that fall within hotspot boundaries, and the political and cultural landscapes are as varied as the biological diversity.

Portuguese-speaking Mozambique, stable after several years of post-colonial turmoil, is less developed than its neighbors. Swaziland is a monarchy whose economy and land have been dominated by a relative few corporate, tribal and individual interests. South Africa’s KwaZulu-Natal Province, with the major commercial center of Durban, is a long-standing center of wealth and development in the country and is home to globally renowned protected areas. The Eastern Cape Province, on the other hand, has suffered more from the legacy of apartheid.