BOOK REVIEWS 3

The Arabian Gulf embraces a wide range of coastal and marine habitats,
in-cluding coral reefs, seagrass beds, salt marshes and man-grove stands.
The area supports large populations of resi-dential, wintering and breeding
birds.

During the Gulf War the region’s rich, and in many respects unique,
wildlife was suddenly put at risk by the largest oil spill in human history.
An oil spill of this size has never been tackled before and international
cooperation in the field of wildlife conservation became indispensable.
Since October 1991, an international, multidisciplinary team of Saudi Arabia
and European scientists has been assessing the ecological consequences
of the Gulf War oil spill. The ultimate aim of this joint project of the
National Commission for Wildlife Conservation and Development, Riyadh,
and the European Commission, Brussels, is the restoration of the area to
pre-war ecological conditions and the establishment of the region’s first
Marine Habitat and Wildlife Sanctuary.

This volume presents first results of the largest continuous research
project on the ecological effects of the Gulf War oil spill. A general
introduction to the Arabian Gulf environment and the consequences of the
1991 oil spill is followed by 12 articles on the effects of the war on
coastal areas and biological communities such as blue-green algal mats,
macro algae and seagrass beds, intertidal flora and fauna including, crabs
and other marine invertebrates, coral reefs, fishes, birds and marine mammals.
Two years after the oil spill, it is obvious that there are no long term
effects on sub-tidal ecosystems. Seagrass beds, coral reefs, fish populations,
turtles and marine mammals are in a healthy condition. Much of the intertidal,
however, is still covered by tar. While at many of the sandy beaches and
rocky shores affected by the disaster there are clear signs of recolonisation
by plants and animals, salt marshes in sheltered bays show almost no sign
of recovery. The present study is a basis for further restoration measures
in the area.

Published as Volume 166 of Courier Forschungsinstitut
Senckenberg, Frankfurt a.M. ISSN 0341-4116, ISBN 0341-4116, ISBN 3-929907-05-4.

Whales
and Dolphins along the coast of Oman
By Robert Baldwin and Rodney Salm
Published by Robert Baldwin.

As Arabia’s first book on whales and dolphins, this recent release will
undoubtedly surprise the majority of readers with its exciting revelations
of the tremendous abundance of cetacean life in the waters around Oman.
The authors have had the benefit of eight years of field research along
the entire coast of the Sultanate as part of a study by IUCN – the World
Conservation Union. Information has also been obtained from the Oman Natural
History Museum and its curator, Michael Gallagher MBE has written a foreword
to the book. Well illustrated with spectacular photographs and water-colours
by one of the field’s leading artists, Fraser May, the book encourages
readers to go out and watch the twenty species of whales and dolphins that
occur off Oman. Details on the lives of these remarkable marine mammals,
from humpback whales which may be the world’s only non-migrating population,
to the possibility of a shy and secretive dolphin new to science, together
with information on how and where to see Oman’s fascinating cetaceans constitutes
the bulk of the book. As Arabia’s only representative of the International
Whaling Commission, Mohamed Barwani of the Ministry of Agriculture and
Fisheries provided advice for the final chapter on whale and dolphin conservation
issues, both internationally, and within Oman.

This important new book also marks the commencement of a major research
study that has just begun in Oman, led by Mohammed Barwani and the book’s
author and publisher, Robert Baldwin. A blank record sheet invites interested
readers to submit information on any whale and dolphin sightings (both
live and dead). Research will cover all species, with particular focus
on coastal cetaceans and will be the largest single attempt at study of
the region’s whales and dolphins ever undertaken. Advice and assistance
will come from several Ministries within the Sultanate, as well as international
organisations such as IUCN, the World Conservation Union, the International
Whaling Commission, the International Federation for Animal Welfare and
several other institutions, including universities and research laboratories
in Hong Kong, South Africa and the U.K. The Worldwide Fund for Nature (WWF)
has officially endorsed the project and will continue to play a role. As
well as carrying out valuable research, plans to establish a rapid response
network for stranded cetaceans are underway, for which a committee is being
established. One of the immediate aims is to create an enhanced awareness
of whales and dolphins in Oman and the rest of Arabia. The book makes a
valuable contribution to this process.

Important
Bird Areas in the Middle East
compiled by M. I. Evans

This book is a tribute to all who have been associated with its production:
the publisher and co-ordinator of the project, BirdLife International;
its compiler Mike Evans; its supporting organisations of the Orni-thological
Society of the Middle East, the Inter-national Waterfowl and Wetlands Research
Bureau; its sponsor, the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds; all
of the countries that cooperated and last, which should perhaps have come
at the very top of the list, all the individual contributors whose field-records,
knowledge and assistance made the project possible. Given the immensity
of the task, and the fact that fourteen countries are covered, one must
also make glowing reference to the book’s editor, Duncan Brooks, and to
the design team who have created an attractive, practical book that clearly
achieves what it set out to achieve. Every aspect of the production progress
has been carefully considered, right down to the paper weight and binding.

Bird watchers, naturalists and conservationists living and working in
the Arabian countries will find this to be a most helpful reference book
and a good basis for planning conservation strategies. The fact that the
project has limited the term “important” to several clearly defined
criteria of international or species significance means that an element
of realism has been introduced which should greatly assist in making the
case for governments to effectively protect most, if not all, of the listed
areas. In many cases such protection is already in place, whilst in others
it may be under active consideration and the designation of an “Important
Bird Area in the Middle East” may help to achieve the protection that
BirdLife International and its associates so earnestly desire. Sadly however,
there are a few instances where important bird areas stand little hope
of protection and of course the most serious case in point is the southern
marsh lands of the Tigris-Euphrates delta which the Iraqi government has
continued to drain in the face of regional and international protests.
The book highlights this tragic situation in the following, well chosen
words: ” None of the sites in the inventory receive any form of legal
protection aimed at conservation of their biodiversity, and many of the
wetlands in particular are under critical threat, due to hydrological changes
associated with flood control, irrigation and drainage projects being carried
out in Iraq and neighbouring countries. This is nowhere more apparent than
in the marshlands of southern Iraq, particularly the Central Marshes, Haur
Al Hammar and Haur Al Hawizeh.

In contrast to this depressing report of apparent indifference to protection
of wildlife, one can happily cite the situation in other Arabian countries
such as Saudi Arabia where the work of the NCWCD is proving to be a positive
force in coordinating conservation issues and whose “System Plan for
Protected Areas outlines a logical rationale for the creation of a representative
system of effectively protected areas and defines procedures to proclaim
and properly manage these areas as reserves.” Pointing to the fact
that, “As a major landmass connecting Africa and Eurasia, Saudi Arabia
has a pivotal role in the lives of many migratory species, contains representative
populations from all these faunal regions, and additionally has a small
number of Arabian endemic species, mostly confined to the south-west”,
the book emphasises that the protective legislation already established,
or presently under review, will be an important element for the survival
of many species of birds, resident in, or passing through, Saudi Arabia.

Important Bird Areas of the Middle East is published
by BirdLife International, Wellbrook Court, Girton Road, Cambridge CB3
ONA, UK; fax 0223 277200; ISBN 0 946888 28 0.