The Zaire Gorilla Conservation Project was launched in 1984 after the 1981 census of mountain gorillas in the Virungas showed how the Mountain Gorilla Project in Rwanda, in which FFPS was closely involved, had helped to swell numbers. Over the past few years the Zaire project has made encouraging progress. The 1986 census counted the highest number of gorillas since the early 1970s and some of that increase can be attributed to improved protection in Zaire. In addition, the park is benefiting from income from tourists visiting habituated gorilla groups. The project continues to extend, taking in eastern lowland gorillas and chimpanzees, as well as developing an overall education programme for the region around the park.

Every year millions of bulbs, corms and tubers are being dug up in the wild to supply the market for garden plants. In many cases the level of exploitation is so high that it threatens some species with extinction in their natural habitats. Some have already been lost. The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), which has been so successful in controlling damaging trade in certain species of animals, has yet to address the bulb trade effectively. One of the difficulties to be overcome is assessing its true extent and its effect on wild populations. In 1987 the FFPS contracted its staff botanist, Mike Read, to investigate the trade in wild-collected plants in Turkey. The findings reported here point clearly to the need for further research, more legislation and the promotion of sustainable methods of propagation in the countries of origin.

The scientific community now agrees that, more than anything else, it is the killing of African elephants for the ivory trade that has caused the very dramatic declines in elephant populations witnessed over the past decade. Based on samples of ivory trade data, recent population modelling and field data, the authors discuss the implications of the ivory trade for the future survival of viable populations of African elephants.

There had been no news of Nigeria's gorillas for 30 years when in 1987 rumours began to circulate that they survived in the south-east part of the country. At the end of the year the authors conducted a survey in the area and confirmed that gorillas were indeed present. They found evidence of five sub-populations, more or less isolated from each other and living in forests that are increasingly threatened by destruction and where hunting might kill one-and-a-half times as many gorillas as are born each year. Nevertheless, the authors suggest that the future of these attractive animals could be ensured, with adequate control of hunting and the development of gorilla-viewing tourism in the region.

The forests that clad Phulchowki mountain in Nepal are internationally renowned for their fauna and flora but they are unprotected. The subtropical forests on the lower slopes are particularly valuable, being one of the last remnants of such forest left in Nepal and probably the only one still worth protecting. Currently very little of this forest type is included in the country's extensive protected area system. If it is to be saved action is needed soon: marble quarrying and the removal of trees for firewood, foliage and timber are destroying the forests, which are also vital for the protection of water supplies. The authors, whose recent study of Nepal's forest birds reinforced the importance of the mountain, suggest ways in which protection could benefit both the forests and the people.

The decline of the jaguar in the 1970s reflected the large trade in their skins. Since 1973, when the species was listed on Appendix I of the Convention on International Trade In Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), the threat from the commercial skin trade has abated. However, habitat destruction and opportunistic killing continue. If the jaguar is to persist into the future, local people must be convinced that conserving jaguars has long-term benefits for them.

Clouded leopards were believed to be extinct in Nepal, the last published record being from 1863, but in 1987–1988 four individuals were found in the country. These findings extend the known range of the species westward and suggest that clouded leopards are able to survive and breed in degraded woodlands and scrub previously supporting moist subtropical semi-deciduous forest. One of the clouded leopards was radio-collared, the first free-ranging individual to be so, and tracked for several days after its release in Royal Chitwan National Park. The translocation was unsuccessful—the leopard rapidly travelled towards the site from which it was captured.

Concern about the effects of feral goats on Aldabra atoll—a UNESCO World Heritage Site—led to a search for solutions. The search highlighted the inaccessibility of information on feral goat eradication campaigns. As a result the International Council for Bird Preservation and the FFPS, through its Oryx 100% Fund, commissioned a report to bring together and assess known techniques and potential strategies and to consider their implications for conservation practice. This article is a shortened version of that report.

In 1985 the European Economic Community embarked on a major nature conservation project in Benin, the first time that the EEC has become involved in this way in a national park in Africa. The project is centred on Pendjari National Park in the north of the country, whose lands are a vital barrier against the spread of the desert from the north. The park is being reorganized, poaching is being controlled and the future looks brighter, not only for Pendjari but for the neighbouring lands also.

A nature reserve is being developed at Kuala Selangor on the west coast of Peninsular Malaysia. It is important as the core area of a major belt of mangrove forest and intertidal mudflats, an ecosystem poorly represented in South East Asian reserves. The concept, as well as its management by a non-governmental organization, are unique in the region.

Although the nature conservation movement had its beginnings a century ago, there was a lull in activity between the two World Wars. Richard Fitter, former FFPS Honorary Secretary and Chairman and now a Vice-President, became involved in the middle of World War II, just as the movement really got off the ground. His account of wildlife conservation in the last 50 years reveals the tremendous changes that have occurred and gives us glimpses of his own deep commitment and contribution to the movement. This paper was originally delivered at a joint meeting of the British Ecological Society and the Society for the History of Natural History in London on 12 November 1988.

In 1985 Taiwan responded to widespread concern about its role in the international rhinoceros trade by banning imports and exports of all rhinoceros products. It is disheartening and alarming that, three years later, the trade still thrives and little has been done to enforce the new law. The authors describe the situation in Taiwan, discuss the implications for the world's last rhinoceros populations and recommend what action should be taken.

Evidence from a survey conducted by the European Continental Section of the International Council for Bird Preservation (ICBP-ECS) suggests that birds have not served as such good early warning indicators of ecological damage from acid precipitation as they have for damage from organochlorine pesticide use. Only a few highly specialized species have been badly affected, and then long after the impact was observed in other organisms. Some birds have even benefited from the superabundance of dead and decaying standing timber.

Bahrain was perhaps the first Arab country to realize the rapid decline of many native wild animal populations in the region and the urgent need to implement measures to ensure their survival. Part of Bahrain's response to this realization was the establishment of Al-Areen Wildlife Park. It was hoped that setting up a conservation centre dedicated to the preservation of wildlife would promote similar projects in other countries in the region. Now, more than 10 years since its creation, the authors review the original objectives of the project, its achievements and its aims for the future.

For more than four years the FFPS's Bat Project has received much publicity and acclaim, but more importantly it has resulted in a heightened awareness of the special problems that bats face. Here, the Bat Conservation Officer describes the history of the project and its activities.

There are five, perhaps only four, monkey species in The Gambia and all are under threat. The main problems are habitat destruction, hunting of crop raiders and illegal capture for medical research. The information presented here was collected during a long-term study from March 1978 to September 1983 on the socio-ecology of the red colobus monkey in the Abuko Nature Reserve. Further information was collected during brief periods between February 1985 and April 1989 on the presence of monkeys in the forest parks. It is not systematic nor extensive, but it indicates clearly that action is needed if monkeys are to remain as part of the country's wildlife. The most pressing need is for survey work to supply the information needed to work out a conservation plan.