The Biosphere Reserve concept potentially appears to be an extremely important basis for enhancing global land protection—particularly, although not exclusively, in developing countries. Far more clarification and education will be required, however, to produce the level of public appreciation that will be necessary to make this concept an effective force for conservation. It may be argued that a clear delineation of the Biosphere Reserve concept is less important than an adequate public understanding of the values to be derived from this land protection strategy. While this distinction may be useful, it would seem that the potential benefits of the Biosphere Reserve would be considerably enhanced by far more precise public appreciation of the meaning and intent of this land designation category.

A comparison of two island fishing communities in the Visayas, Philippines, shows significant differences in coral-reef habitat and in diversity of selected reef-fishes, as well as important differences in fishing customs and catch composition. During the sampling months of April–May 1985, fishermen on the 72-ha Apo Island, Negros, caught more than two-thirds of their total fish-catch on the reef, whereas fishermen on the 200-ha Pamilacan Island, Bohol, caught less than 20% of their total catch on the reef during the same period. This discrepancy may be attributable to reef quality or fishing customs, or to both these factors.

Four conservation areas in the maritime Antarctic (three Specially Protected Areas and a Site of Special Scientific Interest) are compared with neighbouring islands which have not been awarded similar conservation status. Comparisons are carried out by using the terrestrial arthropod fauna, as opposed to the plant communities. Results indicate that arthropod diversity can vary significantly between localities for samples collected from the same vegetation types, but that within a limited geographical area the diversity of such faunas is similar.

The effects of human activities on shorebirds migrating through Raritan and Delaware Bays (New Jersey, USA) were examined from late April to late October 1982. Less than 5% of the 471,055 shorebirds counted in the censuses were in Raritan Bay, and only eight species accounted for 95% of the total. Bird populations peaked during late May to early June, and had a secondary peak in early August. People walking accounted for 43% (Raritan Bay) and 50% (Delaware Bay) of the disturbances. Other disturbances, in descending order of abundance, were of fishermen, airplanes, dogs, clam-diggers, off-road vehicles, boats, children, and joggers.

Over the years, the problems facing conservation have changed. The 20th century has been characterized by two pertinent traits—concern for wildlife and the explosive growth of human population—both destined to loom larger and larger as the century progressed. As an example, the soaring demands for food, timber, and housing, have led to the destruction of the natural abode—the forests of Gujarat—of much of the beautiful Indian wildlife.

Nicaragua is the largest (geographical area) country in Central America, but has the lowest population per hectare. For the last half-century its rich natural resources—timber, fruits, and minerals—were exploited by North American and European corporations without any regard for basic ecological principles. Furthermore, early in the 1950s, cotton was introduced and became the main source of foreign exchange. This led to massive use of pesticides, and construction of pesticide manufacturing plants, causing disastrous pollution by mercury of Lakes Managua and Nicaragua. It also forced migration of thousands of local subsistence farmers from the lowland cotton-producing areas to the hills where the farmers' ‘slash and burn’ techniques exacerbated the damage already done to the forests by foreign companies.

The main pelagic ecosystem of Lake Kivu in Central Africa is about to fall victim of a manipulation that took place a quarter of a century ago.

A comprehensive approach to the problem of examining impacts on tundra landscapes is presented, using the Prudhoe Bay oilfield as a model. Development of the oilfield is documented, utilizing a series of ‘historical’ disturbance maps for the period 1949–83. Cumulative development of the entire field was mapped at a scale of 1:24,000, and an intensely developed portion of the field was mapped at 1:6,000, using an integrated geobotanical and historical disturbance map (IGHDM). The IGHDM data were automated, and a series of maps was made which depict a variety of information—including geobotany of the area as of 1949, and the historical sequence of development from 1968 to 1983.