This paper reviews very briefly the main factors of relevance in determining the optimal distribution of nature conservation areas within a region or country. Whilst much will depend on the existing location of areas of high conservation value, the selection of an appropriate strategy for nature conservation within a region will also depend on the likely effects of isolation between conservation areas—which, in turn, will depend to some extent on the types of plants and animals that are to be conserved.

Considering a number of alternative patterns of conservation areas, it is concluded that patterns which combine a minimum of fragmentation with extensive regional coverage are likely to be preferred to more fragmented patterns involving the same total area of land.

The rehabilitation plan for a surface-mined area should be in detail and prepared as part of the mining plan. The area to be disturbed should be identified as to its vegetation-types and potential for rapid and complete restoration. The rehabilitation plan should show, by means of topographic maps or three-dimensional maps prepared before the advent of mining, the general lay of the terrain and the reconfiguration after mining. Such maps will indicate how soil-slope regulations are being met, how aesthetic acceptability can be evaluated, and how ecological response-units for revegetation can be characterized.

In order to prepare a detailed revegetation plan before mining, the following maps and information are needed: (1) a topographic map, (2) a soil-series map, (3) a vegetation-cover map, and details concerning (4) the wildlife that inhabits the area, (5) the prevailing climatic conditions such as wind and the amount and form of precipitation, and (6) the character of each geological stratum that lies above the coal-seams or whatever is to be mined—including its structure, depth, and possible toxicity.

The detailed revegetation plan should identify where the topsoil or other plant-growth medium will be obtained, so that it can be stockpiled to be redistributed over the spoil material. Fine sandy loams, silty clay soils, and soils that are high in toxic elements or low in organic matter, should be avoided. It is recommended that topsoil material be redistributed over the spoil material to a minimum depth of 18 to 24 inches (457 to 610 mm), in order to furnish adequate depth for root concentration and for storage of reserve moisture following the spring snow-melt. The seedbed should be firm and free from competitive weeds. On harsh sites, water-holding basins or contour trenches should be constructed.

The method of seeding should include either drilling or broadcasting the seed, with due provisions for seed coverage by soil, and the addition of fertilizers and mulches where appropriate. The selection of species should include both native and introduced species that are adapted to the site. A wide diversity of life-forms and species should be included, to ensure stabilization of the area and furnish the wildlife habitat requirements. The season of seeding should be the period prior to the incidence of the most dependable precipitation in the area. The quantities of different seeds in the mixture and the overall amount employed will vary from site to site and with the method of planting. Generally speaking, poorer sites require more seed than favourable sites, and broadcasting requires about twice as much seed as does drilling.

Direct on-site costs for reclamation may vary from $250 to as much as $2,750 per acre (0.405 ha), depending upon saving and distributing the topsoil, shaping the overburden, seed-bed preparation, planting, fertilization, drainage control, mulching, and irrigation.

My contribution to the crusade for the perpetuation of all life on Earth, indeed for the very tools for survival if the situation becomes more critical, has been the opportunity to put the case for conservation of Nature and natural resources over to the public in general, and also to present it to the great decision-makers of our time—the men and women who have such mighty power for good or evil, and on whose vision and actions the future of Man depends. I have been able to do this because of the dedicated support I have received from my colleagues in the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), and from our sister organization and scientific adviser, the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN), all working in close partnership.

The technique of restoration of populations of land plants is an old one that is well understood by scientists, agronomists, forestry experts, and the general public. However, only recently has attention been turned to restoring underwater areas with socalled seagrasses. From 1947 onwards, attempts have been made to restore suitable marine areas by using important species; however, only very recently (from August 1973) have large-scale restoration projects been undertaken.

The efforts that have been made to replant various seagrass species by different techniques are reviewed, but only two seagrasses, Zostera noltii and Thalassia testudinum, have been restored on a large scale. Both of these can be restored successfully; however, the seeding method of Thalassia appears to be the most practical operation of all, and the most potentially valuable for future research into large-scale restoration, as it allows flexibility of location and of depth of transplantation, and involves the minimum of damage to the donor site. It also ensures the most rapid regrowth, besides being in the long run the most economical method yet devised of restoring a seagrass community. An economic model (see Technical Appendix to this paper) and analysis for restoration costs are given and finally a wide range of uses of restoration of such beds of seagrasses are enumerated.

A new and promising field has appeared as a result of the increased tourist industry based on natural resources, though too often such expansion has been achieved without due planning and has taken many people by surprise. Conservationists and their organizations have often reacted adversely to this ‘invasion’, but this need not be so. There are many reasons and examples which prove that a change of attitude, leading to a symbiotic relationship between tourism and conservation in the wide sense, can offer a very large variety of advantages and benefits—physical, cultural, ethical, and economic—to a country.

A tourist industry can expect a brilliant future, based on natural assets of the environment, provided due consideration is given to the ecological principles which must guide resource-use. The alliance of those responsible for tourism with ecologists and conservationists is a natural one, that should contribute greatly to development—the right kind of development involving the right kind of change—leading to a better quality of life for all concerned.

Spartina alterniflora salt-marsh has been established from seed and transplants on dredged materials and sandy shorelines along the North Carolina coast. Transplants were more successful than seeding over a greater portion of the intertidal range and under more rigorous environmental conditions, but seeding was successful in the upper half of protected sites. Seeding at the rate of 100 viable seeds per square metre from April through May can result in complete vegetational coverage by the end of the first growing-season. At the end of the second growing-season, above-ground biomass accumulation from seeding approached that produced by transplants which had originally been planted on a 0.9-metre centre. Both above-ground and below-ground production of planted marsh compared well with values for these components in natural marshes. There were no differences in production by epiphytes between planted and natural S. alterniflora marsh at two different locations. Faunal production in the upper 13 cm of sediment was significantly less in planted than in natural marsh, and where marsh plants accumulated sediments, faunal numbers and biomass were less in planted than in unplanted areas. Sediment carbon content indicated that 4 to 25 years might be required for a newly-planted marsh to resemble a natural marsh.

Based on our studies, the techniques developed to plant S. alterniflora on dredged material and along sandy shorelines can be employed to initiate new and functional salt-marsh where none existed previously. The length of time required for man-initiated marsh to resemble natural marsh depends upon how closely the new substrate resembles natural marsh in the type of sediment accumulated, in the elevation of the new substrate, in the natural sedimentation rate in the area, and in the relative maturity of the natural marsh system.

Certain areas of the Piceance Creek Basin are important, not only for their beauty and other amenities but also for their unusual ecosystems. Stoecker (1974) has suggested maintaining one of the larger boxcanyons in the southern portion as a nature reserve. Knutson & Boardman (1973) have suggested preserving a ‘green belt’ to involve the magnificient bluffs adjacent to the Colorado River. Preservation of the Cathedral Bluffs running north and south in the western portion has also been suggested. It is clear that a movement is growing to provide a system of natural areas throughout the Basin. Such a system would maintain important examples of representative vegetation types, wildlife habitat, geological and archaeological features, and other areas of particular ecological interest. This preserve system would maintain natural (or semi-natural) areas both as ecological baselines and as nuclei for obtaining biological ‘seed’ for rehabilitation of disturbed areas. A study to delineate suitable areas that could be included in such a system is surely needed.

Man is viewing vast resources in the Piceance Creek Basin, which probably has the world's largest known hydrocarbon deposit, and his use thereof seems inevitable. The magnitude of the deposit certainly demands a major planning effort. One can even speculate into the future, as Knutson & Boardman (1973) have done, to visualize a concerted or systems approach to obtaining and processing this resource.

Nevertheless, until commercial activity begins and monitoring procures actual data, predictions will remain speculative. Operation of a few commercial plants, mines, and rehabilitation activities, is needed in order that precise predictions can be made for better delineation and quantification of the environmental impacts of a major shale-oil industry.