Roadside bird mortality is a new environmental dimension in developing countries. With the recent increase in the number of high-speed cars and the simultaneous improvement of roads in India, bird-car strikes and the resultant bird mortality are becoming important. To know how many species frequent roads in Punjab and thus may be prone to be killed by fast vehicles, we censused birds along 420 km of roads of different widths and traffic volumes from a vehicle moving at 50–60 km per hour. We also counted birds along transects c. 1 km away from roads, for comparison.

In all, 35 species of birds were recorded on the road proper or within 3 m of either edge. Common Myna (Acridotheres trisitis) was the most abundant species (34.8% of all birds), followed by House Sparrow (Passer domesticus) (29.5%), Ring Dove (Streptopelia decaocto) (13.1%), and House Crow (Corvus splendens) (9.7%). These four species together accounted for c. 87% of the total of all bird species. The off-road community consisted of 68 species. The species-richness of granivorous, insectivorous, omnivorous, and some other birds, was less on or near roads than in the off-road transects, but within each community, species having different feeding habits were in similar proportions. About 93% of the total birds on or near roads (as against 66% off-road) were either granivorous or omnivorous.

Our results suggested that granivorous birds are attracted, but insectivorous and other birds are repelled, by roads. Omnivores were equally abundant on and off roads. Food (such as spilled grain) seemed to be the main factor attracting birds to roads. Species diversity and equitability of the bird community on roads (1.82 and 0.51, respectively) were less than those off-roads (3.11 and 0.74, respectively). Wider roads had lower species-diversity and equitability, probably because of the greater volume of traffic on them compared with narrower roads. Species richness and bird abundance seemed not to be affected by roadwidth. Bird mortality on roads is discussed, along with the possibility of roads acting as “ecological traps” for foraging birds.

Within the apparent strength of proud, successful, cohesive agencies are often found characteristics that inhibit their ability to adapt successfully in an environment of change. Organizations can be so successful that they feel invulnerable to public petition. They can stereotype, and dismiss as uninformed ‘outsiders’ or biased trouble-makers, any others who criticize them. Janis (1967) has described such organizational tendencies as groupthink behaviour—where proud and successful, professional organizations such as the USDA-Forest Service (USFS), consider themselves superior to the public, and where any external criticism is filtered, rationalized, and stereotyped to minimize the need for organizational introspection and change.

This article looks at how groupthink tendencies were a normal, understandable part of USFS behaviour in the 1950–60s—and how these tendencies inhibited its adaptation to a post-industrial American society that was increasingly concerned with forest recreational and amenity values. The National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA, 1970) was the first of several laws that directly confronted the utilitarian, developmental values and the groupthink tendencies in federal natural resource agencies. Responding to NEPA (1970) and other legislative and policy changes of that era, the USFS has latterly become a much more sexually and professionally diverse agency, that is more open to public input than formerly. This volte-face has reduced the probability of groupthink operating in the agency, and consequently improved the latter's prospects of a useful and equitable future.

The alien tree species Cinchona succirubra, the Red Quinine-tree (Rubiaceae), was introduced to the Galápagos Islands, Ecuador, in 1946, for purposes of cultivation, but causes much concern as, by 1987, it was found to cover about 4,000 hectares in the highlands of Santa Cruz Island, changing the original, largely endemic, vegetation. Some limited herbicide trials have been made by the Galápagos National Park Service, but a really successful method of controlling this pest still remains to be found.

The removal of Cinchona plants from a 1000-ha Intensive Control Area (ICA) within the Galápagos National Park has been successful to date. However, large stands of the tree exist in the adjacent agricultural area of Santa Cruz Island, as well as elsewhere in the National Park. With the maturation of these stands, an increased input of Cinchona succirubra seeds to the ICA can be anticipated.

Strengthened use of manual, chemical, and biological, control measures are therefore recommended on a shortterm basis, in order to conserve the unique highland vegetation of Santa Cruz Island, Galápagos.

The 71 hectares mainly of rain-forest on Bukit Timah Hill have been isolated for more than 130 years. During most of this period, the forest has received some form of protection: initially for climatic reasons, then as a forest reserve, and finally as a Nature reserve. It has also suffered a great deal of disturbance from illegal logging, firewood collection, hunting, wartime shelling, and recreational activity. Despite this, the Reserve still supports an immensely rich flora and fauna, although many bird and mammal species have been lost.

The example of Bukit Timah suggests that, contrary to most predictions, small rain-forest reserves can play a significant role in biological conservation, as well as satisfying educational and recreational needs.

This study was conducted to explore the role of the mixed-function oxidase (MFO) detoxication system in the ‘adaptation’ process of gulls to polluted environments. In two different populations of Black-headed Gull (Larus ridibundus), feeding in one case in a lagoon and in the other on an inland rubbish-dump, MFO hepatic activities (aldrin epoxidase, 7-ethoxyresorufin o-deethylase, NADPH-cytochrome c reductase, NADH-cytochrome c reductase, and NADH-ferrycianide reductase) and chlorinated hydrocarbon residues were determined. All the enzymatic activities detected, and the PCB residues, were higher in the Gulls feeding on the inland dump than in the gulls feeding in the lagoon.

The results obtained suggest that the development of a strong detoxication system constitutes an important ‘survival mechanism’ for these birds when feeding customarily in polluted environments.

Conflicts between national parks and their surrounding human communities are apparently disfunctional for both. Both groups would appear to have incentives to resolve or at least reduce these conflicts. A major difficulty is the achievement of ready communication and trust between the powerful urban-based park authorities and the rural, possibly illiterate, local human populations who may have suffered at the hands of the park authorities in the past. Because of their greater power, the national park authorities are in the best position to take the first steps towards establishing trust—by making some positive concessions, and binding themselves in some way to real, rather than token, local participation in decision-making.

Local elected officials with responsibilities both to their local electorate and to the objectives of central government, might be suitable agents for bringing the various parties together. When once effective communication is established, the early identification of areas of common interest, and positive actions to promote these, will continue the trust-building process and enable more difficult issues to be addressed. The identification, in advance, of options or alternatives that appear to be mutually beneficial, ‘positive sum’ solutions, will facilitate this and provide incentives for the initial participation of all parties.

This approach to protected areas management will require new skills and training for park staff—in social and political as well as biological skills. It will also require a shift in the ruling paradigm of protected areas. The concept of national parks as inviolate havens of untouched Nature, controlled by an all-powerful central government agency, will have to give way to concepts of conservation through careful manipulation to achieve both conservation and local human development objectives. Although this approach is being hailed by conservation leaders through such worthy devices as Biosphere Reserves (Batisse, 1982), these concepts do not yet seem to have the international status that is required for their extensive adoption, nor do they necessarily build conflict-management processes into the management regime.

The approach suggested above is not without risk both to park authorities and to the local human communities; but clarification of both conservation and development objectives should reduce such a risk and help to identify the information and analytical needs for working towards a mutually beneficial solution.

The Kirby Canyon Conservation Agreement was designed to provide protection of the Bay Checkerspot Butterfly (Euphydryas editha bayensis) while allowing development of an extensive solid-waste landfill in the habitat of that threatened subspecies. Elements of the programme include 1) biological research; 2) habitat acquisition; 3) habitat management; 4) restoration and revegetation activities; and 5) off-site recovery, including reintroduc-tion of the Butterfly into an unoccupied suitable habitat.

The high likelihood of success of this agreement reflects the availability of detailed life-history information, the known ecological characteristics of the Butterfly, and the geographic scale of the proposed development. This agreement should provide a useful model for the resolution of potential conflicts between endangered invertebrates and resource development in urban corridors elsewhere.

Nomadic migration of cattle in the middle Niger valley is an age-old traditional method of raising cattle by pastoralism. However, this method of free-grazing of animals has been observed to affect some of the ecological balances of the savanna ecobiome. These ecological effects include denudation of the soil through excessive and repeated trampling by cattle on permanent routes, destruction of vegetational structure through uncontrolled burning and tree-lopping by pastorallists, dissemination of animal diseases due to long-distance trekking and unrestricted movement of cattle, and other social problems such as conflict with farmers when animals infiltrate into arable farmlands.

With increasing use of the limited land-resources for other human activities, the need to create grazing reserves and provide infrastructures to reduce the widespread movement of cattle is recommended. This will improve the productivity of cattle and check any unfavourable ecological repercussions resulting from their unrestricted movement.

With ever-increasing demands being made on remote and natural lands, planners and managers require more detailed information than hitherto to assist them in monitoring the status of this wilderness resource and developing appropriate and effective management prescriptions. These requirements are addressed by a computer-based wilderness evaluation procedure that has been developed for a national wilderness survey of Australia.

The methodology, based on the wilderness continuum concept (Lesslie & Taylor, 1985), places emphasis on measuring variation in wilderness quality by using four indicators that represent the two essential attributes of remoteness and naturalness. This permits a precise assessment to be made of the wilderness resource, revealing those factors which contribute to or compromise wilderness quality. The computer-based storage and analysis of data enables surveys to be conducted over large, even continental, areas, yet at a relatively fine level of resolution that is appropriate to localized planning needs.

Trial application to the State of Victoria, Australia, demonstrates that the survey procedure can be successfully adapted to a wide range of environments, use-patterns, data-base characteristics, and management objectives, which should be applicable and very widely useful elsewhere.

Amami Oshima (Island of Amami) in Japan has five species and two supspecies of animal wildlife that are designated as natural monuments by the national government. However, government subsidy has indirectly induced population decline of some of them through habitat destruction. Self-supporting industries make up only a small portion of the whole economy of Amami Oshima, so that financial support from the national and prefectural governments has been necessary to create a large number of jobs for local people.

Forestry has been subsidized by the central governments to a large degree. As a result of cost-reduction in logging through the subsidy which has been devoted mostly to construction of logging roads, most original forests have been replaced by young secondary forests and logged areas in the central part of Amami Oshima, where all the wildlife taxa under consideration are to be observed at present. The governments have planned to manage these young forests with a 35–40 years' rotation-cycle for pulpwood, of which the commercial value is relatively low.

Of the involved seven species and subspecies, the Great White's Thrush (Turdus dauma amami), Owston White-backed Woodpecker (Drendrocopos leucotos owstoni), and the Long-haired Rat (Rattus legata), appeared to be so dependent on mature forest (uncut for at least 40 years after selective felling) that they will probably not be able to maintain their populations if all the old forests are cut down. Small populations of the Ryukyu Robin (Erithacus komadori) may be able to survive in young secondary forests, but population decline will be substantial through the decrease in the area of mature forest. On the other three species—the Amami Rabbit (Pentalagus furnessi), Purple Jay (Garrulus lidthi), and Spinous Rat (Tokudaia osimensis)—the effects of clear-cutting of the mature forests are less obvious. Further decreases in the area of mature forests will probably cause a significant reduction in the present population-level of the Amami Rabbit, but negative effects of logging on the other two species should not be very serious. An increase in the length of rotation-cycles, and changes in the use of the subsidy, are proposed for improving the wildlife habitat and the economic efficiency of local forestry.

With respect to environmental conservation at* the Prince Edward Islands, South Africa has not lagged behind other nations owning sub-Antarctic islands. Indeed, with respect to some aspects, it can claim to be in the forefront. The most serious environmental problems at the Prince Edward Islands have to do with the need for control or eradication of certain established alien species of both plants and animals, the prevention of the introduction of additional aliens, and the carrying out of environmental impact assessments prior to new developments or expansions of existing facilities and programmes. However, where South Africa has lagged behind is in the enunciation of a policy on, and the proclamation of legislation giving, formal status to environmental conservation at, and the implementation of a formal and effective management plan for, the Prince Edward Islands.

It is hoped that these shortcomings will be redressed in the near future. But if, for example, an aircraft landing strip were ever to be built on Marion Island, then the need for the proclamation of legislation and the implementation of a management plan would become even greater than at present. Prince Edward Island is so exceptionally special as an undisturbed sub-Antarctic island that it must never be subjected to any such development.

In order to be able to recommend the most compatible land-uses for adoption in a multiple land-use system, in terms of the resultant impacts on soils and vegetation in mature ecosystems, the impact of logging operations and recreation in the Caspian region of Iran was studied. Four forest communities were selected and, with an analytical approach, the bulk density, percentage of plant cover, number of individual plants, plant height, and the number of plant species encountered, in 36 sample plots (20 × 1 m) located on various slopes and aspects, and used for logging or recreation at different intensities (unused, transitional, used), were recorded.

The effectiveness of data, in terms of demonstrating the statistically significant differences, was tested by the method described in Conquest (1983). T-statistics for two means were used to discern statistical differences.

The results of the study indicate that the effect of logging is greater than that of recreation on soil bulk density, whereas the effect of recreation is greater on plants than that of logging. Aspect has no effect on the resultant impact, but steep slopes are more susceptible than gentle ones. With increases in altitude, the degree of impact decreases. Ecosystems having loamy clay soils and a greater proportion of monocotyledonous than dicotyledonous species, located on gentle slopes at the higher altitudes investigated, tend to resist the impacts of both logging and recreation best.

The island of Zákynthos, in western Greece, supports the most important nesting biotope of the endangered Loggerhead Sea-turtle (Caretta caretta) within Europe. The evaluation of the impacts of human activities, such as beach-use by people, lights, noise, and traffic, on its nesting habitats revealed that they are running out of time under the pressure of rapid and massive tourist development. It is therefore essential for the protection of this unique species to conserve its nesting biotope. This implies adequate, ecologically sound management, which might well be ensured through the establishment of a Marine Park.

Plant communities produced experimentally in twometres' square plots on the rubble-covered floor of a limestone quarry showed changes in the cover values that were attributable to the sown grass and to immigrant mosses over a period of three years. Cover values for the mosses were lower in summer than in the following autumn over two cycles, whilst the cover that was attributable to the sown grass, a non-rhizomatous cultivar of Festuca rubra, did not follow a clear pattern. No evidence of directional change was found; this suggests a stable coexistence of the grass with mosses. It is suggested that one property of such a community will be a differentiation of regeneration niches which are favourable to an increase of diversity through immigration.

Episodic persistent flooding and consequent deposition of colloidal limestone on well-established and diversifying vegetation, followed by a single catastrophic incident of compression by the tyres of heavy vehicles, resulted in the loss of F. rubra and mosses, and the ascendency of a perennial survivor (Agrostis stolonifera).

National parks in ‘developing countries’ have tended to deviate from the western model of strict protection in order to include economic development of local people in their park management philosophy. Royal Chitwan National Park, Nepal, has been managed in such a way as to allow for limited collection of grassland products to meet vital needs of villagers for structural material.

Nearly 60,000 people are annually allowed to cut thatch and reed grasses for a nominal fee during two weeks in January: such visitation amounts each year to over 216,000 visitor-days. The total weight and value of grass products removed from the Park each year is estimated at 11,132 metric tonnes, worth NR 9.9 millions (about US $450,000). Subtraction of labour and permit costs yielded a net value of about NR 5.5 millions (about US $250,000) to the local economy. Individual villagers save about NR 2,000 (US $90) in costs for thatching material, and about NR 500 (US $25) for building canes, compared with what they would have to pay for other materials to build a house. Alternative products available in the market were considered to be unaffordable substitutes by more than 75% of the villagers questioned.

Villager attitudes toward the Park are becoming more positive as they begin to realize that the Park is a valuable, needed source of managed resources that are not so easily, or not at all, available elsewhere.

An approach to planning, research, and management, that relates people to ecosystems of which they are part, is described and related to the Canada-United States Great Lakes Water Quality Agreements of 1972, 1978, and 1987. Factors favouring the development of an ‘ecosystem approach’ in the Great Lakes Basin include: a shared, highly valued resource; the long residence-times of ‘conservative’ pollutants in the Lakes; use of the Lakes for drinking-water supplies by c. 23 million people; threats to the integrity of the Lakes (pollution, water diversion); advances in ecosystem theory; the rise of voluntary membership associations with interests in the resource; institutional arrangements for managing nationally shared resources; and common economic ties and cultural heritages.

The principal obstacle to implementation of an ‘ecosystem’ approach in the Great Lakes Basin is the lack of policies for comparable approaches in the political jurisdictions surrounding the Great Lakes. The principal obstacle to global implementation of an ‘ecosystem’ approach is the lack of international institutional arrangements for joint advice and operational capabilities in respect of the management of nationally shared resources. Another impediment is the widespread egocentricity of governments, corporations, individuals, and the general public.

An optimal management of large Karst sites, with emphasis on the conservation of cave fauna while allowing recreational use, is proposed. A detailed study of the relative biological value of each section in a reference cave, the east Belgian ‘Grottes de Han’ Cave, was made in comparison with 40 others in Belgium.

Computer analysis provided a selection of optimal routes through the Cave. Each different route reflects the synthetic coefficients derived to weight biological and aesthetic values. This method of optimal cave resource control, developed to prevent deterioration in underground environments, can also be applied to other natural sites visited by humans.

The structure of the El Kala National Park, its aims, zonation scheme for conservation and development, and boundaries, are described. Those ecobiomes and ecosystems which merit the highest classification and protection within the National Park are described and evaluated along with the numerous sites of similar importance outside the Park. A summary evaluation table (Table III) of the habitats, the species, and the resources for sustainable utilization, is presented.

Three wetlands within the Park—Lake Oubeïra (perennial freshwater lake: a Ramsar Convention site important for wintering waterfowl), Lake Tonga (semi-perennial freshwater lake with surrounding marsh and earn a Ramsar Convention site with significant numbers of breeding waterbirds), and the Bou Redim marsh (freshwater carr with open water and a breeding colony of herons) are placed in the highest category of protection for the National Park. Four wetlands outside the National Park—the Mkhada marsh (8,900 ha of seasonally-flooded freshwater marsh), Lake Fetzara (15,000 ha freshwater lake now refilled with water in winter), Lac des Oiseaux (40 ha perennial freshwater lake), and the Cheffia Reservoir (3,000 ha)—are considered as important and consequently deserving of legislative protection. A marine section of the Park needs further study.

The highest level of protection is recommended for the coastal dunes, including alder carrs, within and outside the Park; for the pristine low-montane Cork Oak woodlands, including the last remnants of Pinus pinaster ssp. renoui in Algeria; for the rare Lusitanian Oak forests including the small and declining Algerian population of Barbary Deer (Cervus elephas barbarus); and for some of the last remaining riverine woodland in North Africa. In addition, the healthy and diverse population of raptors is noted. The megalithic and later archaeological remains are extensive, valuable, and little-known.M

Ecological improvements to Lakes Tonga and Fetzara, which were drained in the 1930s, have recently developed from the operation of the old sluices to hold water back in the lakes, although at Lake Tonga some of the marginal vegetation and alder forest appears to be suffering from the prolonged inundation. The construction of the large Mexanna Dam within the National Park will desiccate the Mkhada Marsh, and Lake Oubeïra may have its ecological character changed if it is used for regulatory storage. The dune ecosystems are being affected by agriculture, groundwater pumping, industrial forestry (including perhaps a pulp mill), and the new road which is being driven into the heart of the dunes. Fishing and aquaculture may further reduce the suitability of Lakes Oubeïra and Melah for wintering waterfowl, and deliberate fires continue to ravage the Cork Oak forests.

To conserve a resource without having adequate data and finance is difficult and frustrating. The situation of wildlife in Nigeria is nevertheless different. Except in the Yankari, Upper Ogun, and Kwiabaha, Game Reserves, and the Kainji Lake National Park, little efforts have been made to protect the Nigerian animal wildlife resources from human pressure and widespread extinction. To many, what remains of the wild animals are best seen in the few state-owned zoological gardens in Nigeria. However, because most indigenous large animal species—including Elephant, Buffalo, Chimpanzee, Gorilla, Rhinoceros, Leopard, and Ostrich—have not been able to reproduce in the various zoological gardens so far, the hope to conserve these animals is brittle. The questions are, what factors are working against wildlife conservation? Indeed, what hopes exist for Nigerian animal wildlife?

Animal wildlife is a declining resource in Nigeria because of unplanned land-use practices. For example, landuses in game reserves are often conflicting and contradictory. Four land-uses: timber extraction, hunting, food-crop production, and settlement, are simultaneously going on in game reserves, with little or no control measures and with no management plans. The excessive demands for land for these conflicting uses have greatly disturbed the ecosystems involved, thus making the survival of the wild animals uncertain. Specifically, the problems of wildlife conservation in Nigeria are: (a) poaching; (b) indiscriminate burning of the vegetation; (c) uncontrolled grazing activities in the reserves; (d) intensive logging for domestic and industrial uses; (e) user rights on the reserves enjoyed by the traditional owners of the land before reservation; (f) lack of adequate funds to manage the reserves; (g) ineffective legislation; (h) lack of trained manpower; (i) urban sprawl; and (j) infrastructural development of roads, electric and telegraph lines, and irrigation schemes, all within the game reserves.

The future for Nigerian animal wildlife depends on the nation's ability to conserve what is left either in their natural habitat or, at least, in zoological gardens. The task is not simple under conditions of economic depression, with inadequate manpower and without effective management of game reserves. In these circumstances, the game reserves should be reduced to manageable numbers, while state governments should win public sympathy through adequate conservation publicity and the provision of sufficient vehicles and personnel to manage the game reserves.

The policy of land-use in game reserves should be reviewed, while researches should be conducted on (a) the levels of land-use that could be consistent with maintaining wild animals in the reserves, (b) the number and species of animals hunted per year, (c) the population of animal species in the game reserves and their habitat suitability, (d) the endangered and extinct animal species and specific reasons for the decline in their populations, and (e) human problems peculiar to each reserve and ways of minimizing them.