EDITORS COMMENT 2

has been more in need of protection than the present day. Equally,

there has never been a time when the human inhabitants of Arabia

have taken greater efforts to preserve the region’s animals and

plants. This is not to say that enough is being done, but it does

indicate an increased awareness at all levels of society that

there is an inextricable interdependence between Humankind and

Nature. Just as we depend upon the maintenance of a healthy natural

environment in which wild animals and plants can also flourish,

so do these species depend upon our own actions and attitudes

in relation to them as individuals, to their natural habitats,

this equation. The houbara bustard, whose population in Arabia

has dramatically declined in recent years, is now receiving special

attention. Not only have extensive reserves been created but important

breakthroughs have occurred in captive breeding, producing sufficient

birds for controlled release back into the wild. One of the valuable

tools in this, and other conservation efforts involving oryx,

has been refined Geographic Information Systems which are also

discussed with a view to encouraging their further use in wildlife

plains of Arabia, providing a valuable source of meat for the

Bedouin who lived there, we are reminded of what could happen

to existing species unless we take effective action to protect

them. Both the Arabian leopard and the dugong are cases in point.

Our story about the leopard contains notes of both optimism and

great sadness. It also brings home the tremendous urgency that

of wildlife, of unique habitats such as the Farasan bank, where

disturbance by man is so rare that wildlife shows little fear

and large predators still occupy the pinnacle of the pyramid of

life. Our shallow seas demand as much care and protection as do

the remote mountain areas where colourful flowers still bloom

to receiving any news or views from yourselves: the readers of