The FPS Honorary Secretary represented both the FPS and the British National Appeal of WWF at the meetings of the International Whaling Commission, in Canberra, Australia, in June 1977. The FPS Statement to the IWC called again for a moratorium on whaling, as proposed at Stockholm in 1972, and commented: ‘It is a sobering thought to consider how much larger the whale stocks and quotas were in 1972 than they are today’.

Professor Bannikov describes how the USSR has created nature reserves to protect individual rare species so that today all endangered mammals are protected in reserves or sanctuaries; several rare species have been greatly increased in numbers and reintroduced in other areas. The article is the talk Professor Bannikov, who is a Vice-President of the FPS, gave at the Society's Annual General Meeting on July 5 in London.

Britain has a mainly temperate climate, but there are some hot habitats, such as sand dunes, heathlands and shallow-water areas, which may be vital to the survival of certain species – Dartford warbler, sand lizard, natterjack toad are examples. The author suggests it is therefore vital to conserve extensive examples of these habitats to preserve the wildlife that depends on them. Unfortunately they are habitats that have suffered considerable destruction.

Surinam is one of the few countries in the world where uninhabited and undisturbed tropical rain forest still covers large areas. The Government is fully aware of the importance of this natural heritage. Wildlife is protected, and eight nature reserves, ranging in size from 4000 to 22,000 ha, have been created to protect representative habitats – forest, savannas, coastal flats and important breeding beaches for Kemp's ridley, green and leatherback turtles.

By the end of the last century the white rhino was extinct in Rhodesia. But by the 1960s South Africa had a surplus in the Umfolozi Game Reserve, and since 1962 140 white rhinos have been taken to Rhodesian national parks, reserves and private ranches. In 1975 numbers were estimated at about 150 and the future of the species in Rhodesia should be secure. This paper, written in 1975, has not been brought up to date, as the author has left the Rhodesia National Parks Department, where he had access to records, on taking a post-graduate degree.

An endemic species in Ethiopia, the Simien fox survives in only four areas, and is in danger of extinction in three of them, including the mountains from which it is named. Its only predator is man, and the chief causes of its decline are habitat destruction and the unfounded belief that it takes domestic stock. The Balé Mountains now hold the largest Simien fox population, which the authors estimate at between 350 and 475 animals. The urgent need is for the Balé Mountains National Park, proposed in 1970, to be gazetted.

In 1963 Oryx published an article by Dr Bertram called Man Pressure. This second article returns to the theme, the argument being now reinforced by the addition in the interval of another 1000 million people to the world's population. At this rate what hope have we of conserving the other species that share the planet, and without them what hope is there for human survival?

In 1966 the USSR and Bulgarian governments prohibited dolphin fishing in the Black Sea after a population crash. Turkey, however, continues to catch dolphins (mainly for the oil) and is the only nation in the world to have such a fishery. Little is known about the stocks of the three dolphin species involved, and the author urges the importance of accurate catch records.

Food is the main use for wildlife in Liberia, but trade in ivory, skins and live animals is also considerable. Unfortunately Liberia has neither national parks nor wildlife refuges. There are still vast areas of tropical forest, but timber companies are now opening up some areas with their new roads. The author made this survey while living in Liberia between July 1974 and August 1975.