The Arabian Seas Expedition has completed the first of its films about Arabia's marinelife. Set in the Sultanate of Oman, the film covers above and below water subjects along the entire Omani coastline, from Musandam in the north to the border with Yemen in Dhofar Province. Particular emphasis for this first film, for which work began in June 1993, has been on conservation issues: principally those surrounding the green turtles of Ras Al-Hadd and Bar Al-Hikman; and the loggerheads that nest in huge numbers on the island of Masirah. The film also includes unique coverage of the exquisite coral communities of the Daymaniat islands and of the sharks and shark fisheries that exist along the Omani coast, especially from Musandam down to the coastal fringe of the Wahiba Sands.

Plans have been set in motion to move the entire ASE crew to Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates where it is hoped to commence filming in January 1995 on the elusive and endangered dugongs as well as the Indian Ocean humpback dolphin about which relatively little is known. In line with ASE's principal objective to create widespread environmental awareness, the expedition's leader, Jonathon Ali-Khan, is inviting the commercial sector to collaborate with ASE and the other scientific and administrative organisations that are involved in making this first television documentary series covering the marine life of all the seas of Arabia. Arabian Wildlife wishes to congratulate the expedition on this milestone in their project and wishes them every success with their future filming. We will be pleased to pass on any enquiries concerning the project to Jonathon (please address to The Editor, Arabian Wildlife Magazine, ASE Project, 20 Berkeley St., London W1X5AE and we will forward your enquiry directly to the filming expedition's office).

The Symposium is being accompanied by an exhibit. Further information is obtainable from The General Secretariat of the National Committee for the Protection of Wildlife; PO Box 28690, Bahrain. Tel 631826; Fax 631173.

The Centre held its Second Symposium on Desert Studies in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia from 2-4 October 1994 at the King Saud University in Riyadh. During the three day meeting there were eleven lectures and more than seventy papers on desert studies including discussions on water, ecology, remote sensing, geographic information, soil, plants, sand dunes, forests and range land, camels and social economics of desert people.

The Symposium participants proposed a number of recommendations for future work, such as giving greater priority to desert resource management; the use of modern technologies in surveys of renewable resources; evaluation and establishment of a desert studies resources data bank; and linking this with local, regional and international networks.

The programme also includes a new Flylands, Highlands and Islands project to address conservation in three major regions.

Flylands: The bird migration route to Africa through the countries of the eastern Mediterranean, along the Rift Valley.

Highlands: The wildlife-rich mountains of south-west Arabia, Oman and Socotra

Islands: The huge globally important seabird colonies in the Gulf sea area.

Representatives from Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Oman, United Arab Emirates, Jordan, Yemen, Syria and Lebanon were involved in the discussions that led to adoption of this programme. Further information from Richard Porter, Head of Middle East Division at BirdLife International (UK + 44 223 277318).