The world's first National Park was the Yellowstone Park in the United States of America, established by the United States Congress in 1872 “as a pleasuring ground for the benefit and enjoyment of the people”. This great Park, of over two million acres, was soon followed by others, first in America and then elsewhere, in a world-wide movement which has gradually been gaining impetus and which still continues, East and Central Africa being amongst the last and most tardy recruits to the field. Throughout, the emphasis has been on the preservation of wild land areas for public outdoor recreational and educational use. In 1933 the first move was made at international level to give tangible expression to this movement in the “Conference for the Protection of the Fauna and Flora of Africa”, held in London during that year and attended by delegates from all over the continent: other international meetings have followed.

In any country the basic need for wild life preservation the education of the masses; and this is perhaps especially true of Africa, which has a shorter history of civilization than other continents. Vast sums are spent annually in West Africa on furthering general education, in building new schools and in improving and extending old ones. New universities spring up on all sides, which, like the schools, are full to overflowing with young students eager for knowledge; but though there are lessons in Nature Study, Zoology and Botany, these matters are all too often treated as mere exercises in learning with view to examination, and tend to concern themselves with the more obscure anatomical features of animals rather than their mode of life. Little emphasis is laid upon bringing home to the boys and girls, the young men and young women, the beauty and cultural value of the living scene around them: the animals, the birds, the trees, the flowers, and the importance of ensuring that the brave new world they are creating is not established in a dull and lifeless countryside. These boys and girls are the teachers and legislators of the not very distant future; ten years at the most will see them persons of considerable influence. It is they who in the States now coming into being will set the tune and engender the spirit which will colour the life of many generations to come. They should be made well-informed and interested in the natural world around them.

In February 2005 a survey confirmed the existence of Critically Endangered dama gazelle Gazella dama in south Tamesna, eastern Mali. Two zones, covering an area of 1,775 km2, were systematically surveyed. Seven gazelles were seen and evidence was found of 18 additional individuals, giving an estimated density of 0.047 gazelles km−2. The dama gazelles are taking refuge in places where it is difficult to drive because of a strongly-marked relief and the presence of grassy tussocks. Preliminary genetic analysis of faeces indicates that these gazelles belong to the subspecies Gazella dama dama. These populations are of particular importance for the conservation of the dama gazelle, and an aerial survey has been planned to confirm the terrestrial observations. The government of Mali has, however, already decided to create three protected areas in Tamesna for the conservation of the dama gazelle and Vulnerable dorcas gazelle Gazella dorcas.

Indonesia, a land of forests, is still rich in wildlife, with tigers, rhinos, orang-utans and even elephants still surviving despite the enormous pressures of human population. But saving the wildlife means preserving large areas of forest, and timber is Indonesia's second largest export. However, the Government has now committed itself to a conservation programme that includes the promise of 100,000 sq km of nature reserves by 1984. Since 1974 John Blower has been in charge of a UNDP/FAO Nature Conservation and Wildlife Management Project, selecting areas for conservation in national parks and other reserves, and drafting legislation and management plans. WWF has promised $1 million to support the schemes. The author has high hopes that Indonesia/s foresters are coming to realise that conservation and sustained-yield timber production can be combined to the benefit of both.

The author spent two months in 1977 studying conservation problems in Maui, in the Hawaiian Islands, especially those of the nene goose project. Captive breeding has been successful in saving this species, and over 400 birds have been released on Maui, but predation and habitat destruction by introduced goats, pigs, rats and mongooses are preventing the geese from building up these wild populations.

John MacKinnon, author of the article on Orang-utans in Sumatra, in Oryx, October, 1973, asks us to correct mistakes in Table 1, Page 235.