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Mediterranean forests occur in Mediterranean-type climates characterized by mild and wet winters and dry summers. Being part of the Mediterranean-type biome, they are found in Europe, California and northwest Mexico, and a few small areas in Australia, Chile, and South Africa. In western North America, they are called chaparral. In Spain, the most common name is matorral. Farther east in the Mediterranean Basin, they are referred to as garrigue. Meanwhile, in South Africa they are recognized as fynbos, while Australians refer to at least one form of it as mallee. Mediterranean forests are classified into three main types: sclerophyllous forests, broadleaved forests, and coniferous forests. These are shelter for plant types from various origins that have attained extraordinary levels of both diversity and endemism, composing 20 percent of the Earth's plant species.

The Mediterranean conifer-sclerophyllous-broadleaf forests biome, located in the heart of the Middle East, lies across the Mediterranean Sea coasts of Turkey, Syria, Lebanon, Israel, and Palestine. The forests are home to diverse bird species, as many migratory pathways cross above the area. Eastern Mediterranean countries have a high rate of endemism, or incidence of unique species found nowhere else, with many of them presenting interconnected communities due to paleogeographical and historical patterns. The floristic richness and high endemism rate reflect the ancient origins of these forests. The vegetation cover is a mosaic of three groups of plants; the broadleaf sclerophyllous, also called maquis; the mixed coniferous forests and oak woodlands; and the steppe formations.