Increasing denouncement of African game legislation as inappropriate law imposed by the former colonial authorities is viewed with concern and condemned as mistaken. The necessity for the rule of law is argued and the good intent behind the institution of game laws. Abrogation of such laws will not lead to a lessening of the increasing destruction of African wildlife. The author was consultant to the Government of Botswana for the drafting of its new Wildlife Conservation and National Parks Act, 1992.

It has been accepted traditionally that biodiversity is concentrated in the tropics. However, threatened temperate areas in southern South America, South Africa, New Caledonia, Australia and the Holarctic possess a significant number of unique taxa. Phylogenetic information encoded in cladograms can be used to develop indices for measuring biodiversity. Application of these indices to Asteraceae (Angiosperms) and Curculionoidea (Coleoptera) indicates the relevance of the temperate areas to biodiversity conservation: they are rich in phylogenetically valuable species and are environmentally threatened.

The São Tomé white-toothed shrew Crocidura thomensis is endemic to the island of São Tomé in the Gulf of Guinea. This species was discovered in 1886 and since then has been recorded from fewer than 10 locations. This paper summarizes all published and unpublished information on C. thomensis. The species is currently listed by the IUCN as ‘Insufficiently Known’, but using the new IUCN Red List Categories is re-classified as ‘Vulnerable B1 + 2c’. Threats to the survival of C. thomensis include deforestation, plantation redevelopment and predation by introduced mammals.

Surveys of river otters Lutra lutra on Kinmen and Little Kinmen islands were carried out in 1992 and 1993. In order to record sightings of otters in the past, 12 Kinmen residents who had seen or caught otters before were interviewed. Interview results indicated that the otter is a resident, breeding species on Kinmen. Survey results indicated presence of otters throughout Kinmen and in many sites on Little Kinmen. However, habitat degradation, including pollution and drought, may pose serious threats to the continued existence of the species on both islands.

Bukit Barisan Selatan National Park in south-west Sumatra is one of the largest protected areas in Sumatra and thus of considerable importance to the conservation of biodiversity in Indonesia. Until recently, little was known of the wildlife in the park. The authors' surveys document the presence of an intact community of the birds and mammals known to occur in lowland Sumatran rain forests. While hunting and collection of forest products threaten a number of plant and animal species in the park, the primary threat to the park's integrity is from agricultural encroachment and expansion of enclaves beyond their boundaries. The future survival of Bukit Barisan National Park and its wildlife requires that active measures be taken to curb non-sustainable exploitation of plants and wildlife. It will also be necessary to resolve land-use conflicts with communities in, and adjacent to, the park.

In 1981 Fauna & Flora International's 100% Fund assisted an expedition to study the biology of the Ankárana Caves in Madagascar. A follow-up expedition collected examples of a fish that was subsequently found to be a new species. Its restricted distribution as well as existing and potential threats to its habitat mean that it must be considered as endangered.

During a survey in Dana Nature Reserve (southwestern Jordan) carried out between November 1994 and January 1995, Nubian ibexes Capra nubiana were sighted twice on a cliff at Jebel Um-Suwwana in the Wadi Araba area. The low number of sightings and an assessment of range conditions throughout the study area suggest that the population is reduced to a low density and suffers from severe competition for food and range with goats. Further research needs are discussed in a conservation perspective.