One should perhaps be a bit more wary of milestones — spotting them too often is a sign of fog or of going round in circles — but there do seem to be grounds for hoping that the international conference on the conservation of wetlands and waterfowl, held at Ramsar on the Caspian Sea, last February, is a genuine milestone on one of conservation's more difficult roads. Certainly this was the view of the half-dozen participants who, eight years ago, attended the MAR Conference at Les-Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer, in the Camargue, which began the campaign for recognition of the importance of conserving 'marshes, bogs and other wetlands' — hitherto almost universally regarded as wasteful nuisances, or even menaces to health, to be drained at the first possible moment.

In a short and succinct address of welcome at the WWF International Congress in London, hi November 1970, the proceedings of which have now been published, HRH the Duke of Edinburgh, President of the British National Appeal, summed up the world situation for wildlife and the task for conservationists.

In April-May this year the Indian Forest Service held the first-ever tiger census. Hitherto all assessments of tiger numbers had been based on estimates from the 17 or 18 States which still hold tigers. The Indian Government and the Forest Service are to be highly commended for setting up this difficult operation, for the task of counting this largely nocturnal, forest-dwelling solitary animal over the vast area of India is a formidable one. To achieve reasonable accuracy there is no substitute for the man living in the tiger's own forest environment, who will have acquired over the years a knowledge of tiger movements in his area (perhaps 10 to 20 square miles) and can distinguish one tiger from another, partly by sighting but more often by the pattern of the pug mark. This pointed to the Indian Forest Service as the men to do the job, and moreover the work could be done in the normal course of duty.

The FPS Hon. Secretary reports on the International Whaling Commission's meeting in Washington which he attended on behalf of the Society. A major step forward was the decision to abolish the blue whale unit, but the quota fixed for the next season was again unrealistically high and the USA shows signs of losing patience.

Founded in 1922, the International Council for Bird Preservation has this year celebrated its jubilee. The author, distinguished ornithologist and naturalist and the last founder alive today, has been a leading figure in the Council's work throughout the fifty years.