The occasion of the Riyadh Conservation Forum, held at NCWCD HQ during October 1995 provided an opportunity for many experts in wildlife conservation to share their views about how we can work together in conserving and developing our natural resources. The meeting was a most stimulating event at which I was able to reflect upon progress to date, and to consider how best to move forward. In his key note address to the gathering, H.R.H. Prince Saud Al-Faisal spoke of the need to "look regionally and act locally" if we are to be successful in conserving wildlife. It was a point well made since in the end the focus of regional conservation responsibility does lie in the hands of national and local conservation authorities. The regional approach demands close cooperation and it is our bounden duty to work together in this field. Indeed, Islamic teaching recognises the significance of natural ecosystems as an essential and integral part of the world in which we live. It further stresses the role of humankind as a custodian of nature. In my own address to the Forum I examined these points in some detail and concluded that the unified approach will serve us best, not only in the political and developmental spheres, but also in the field of conservation. By improving regional cooperation, I argued, the local conservation organizations, and through them, conservation in the region, could become self-reliant, efficient and more beneficial to our people.

This issue of Arabian Wildlife explores a wide range of the peninsula's natural history, from spiders to sharks, and from our smallest mammals, the desert mice, to our largest, the whales that live off our shores. It also brings good news on a number of important fronts. We are delighted that the Arabian Leopard Trust has secured both "Nimrod Felix" the beleaguered male whose plight we have highlighted in previous issues of Arabian Wildlife magazine, and a potential mate, a captive bred female leopard generously loaned to the Trust from the breeding centre in Oman. It is also a matter of great pride to my own organisation, the NCWCD that we are able to report the first ever record of captive-reared houbara bustards breeding in the wild. This work, coordinated by researchers at the the National Wildlife Research Centre, is of tremendous significance for the future of the houbara bustard in Arabia and it will greatly encourage further efforts in this field.

I hope that, as a reader of Arabian Wildlife, you will share our joy at these events and will continue to do everything that you can to conserve and protect our wildlife.

Finally, I should like to thank the companies who have advertised in this issue of the magazine, and also those who have done so in previous issues. By doing so, you are helping us to create a truly international magazine that is reaching readers throughout the world. I invite other companies to support our efforts by advertising in future editions of Arabian Wildlife. Details of how to do so are obtainable from the publisher, Planet Publishing Ltd., whose address is given on the right of this page.

Professor Abdulaziz H. Abuzinada