The smallest of these hot spots is a single Kapok tree in Cape Verde islands off west Africa, the breeding site of the endangered Cape Verde Purple Heron.

"A total of 43 out of 225, or 19 percent, of globally threatened bird species are found only in Important Bird Areas that at present have no protected area status," the group said in a statement on endangered birds in Africa.

The largest unprotected bird area is the Tibesti Massif in Chad that covers 33,000 square kilometres (81,5090 sq miles), an area larger than Lesotho.

The statement was released at the fifth World Parks Congress in South Africa's eastern port Durban, where thousands of delegates are discussing the future of the world's 100,000 environmentally protected areas and how to safeguard them.

The congress publicised a report earlier this week which found that more than 700 endangered mammals, birds and amphibians worldwide were at risk of extinction because they did not live in protected areas.

TERRA.WIRE