Farid, M. A.

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Reviews & Notices 379sent review, focus has been on the wetlands, which are themost threatened of all the environments that need conser-vative attention. But the Reviewer hopes it has been shownfrom the examples given that the proceedings of the 25thworking session, celebrating the 50th year from the found-ing of Asia's first National Park, is not solely a referencework for the converted, but a means of adding chapter andverse to the current blanket environment conservationrecommendations.More information is promised, or listed—an inevitablefeature of modern agency activity—such as in the CorbettAction Plan, which catalogues recommended action, the'Directory of Protected Areas of the Indomalayan Realm',and 'Operational Guidelines for the Implementation of theWorld Heritage Convention'. Also there is lament thatdecisions on conservation are based on national ratherthan biogeographical criteria, and that politicians have tobe influenced by brief but cogent arguments. The proceed-ings are a handbook to providing such arguments.In the Foreword, the IUCN Commission ChairmanHarold K. Eidsvik quotes J. Corbett's original work onWildlife in the Village, an Appeal: 'A country's fauna is asacred trust and I appeal to you not to betray this trust... Ifwe do not bestir ourselves now, it will be to our discreditthat the fauna of our province was exterminated in ourgeneration, and under our very eyes, while we looked onand never raised a finger to prevent it.'W. ROBERT STANTON(Former Professor of Botany, University of Malaya)73 Main StreetStanbury, KeighleyW. Yorks BD22 OHAEngland, UK.Journal of Development and the Environment (Al-Tanmiyawa Al Beaah: in Arabic), No. 3, 80 pages (27 x 19.5 x 0.3cm), Dar-Al-Maaref Printing Company, 11 Hassan SabryStreet, Zamalek, Cairo, Egypt, annual subscription US $5outside Egypt, October 1986.It is gratifying to be able to comment favourably onreceipt of the third issue of this recently-launched Egyptianjournal dealing with environmental matters and reflectingthe view of the Organization of Environmental Affairs ofthe Egyptian Council of Ministers. This Organization wasestablished by a Republican decree in 1982, and wasaccorded the following main functions:1. Preparation of the national plan for environmentalstudies, establishment of their priorities, and thenmonitoring of their execution.2. Preparation of information and promotional pro-grammes for increasing public consciousness about theconservation and need for improvement of the envi-ronment.3. Review of the environmental legislative decrees indeveloped countries, and proposal of the most suitableones for the Egyptian environment.4. Support of the various national activities in the field ofthe conservation and improvement of the environ-ment.5. Follow-up of international activities dealing with theenvironment, and dissemination of information with aview to raising the technical competence of local envi-ronmentalists.The Journal is entirely in Arabic, and the subjects dealtwith in this third number reflect the competence of theOrganization in fulfilling the above objectives, as can beseen from the following titles of the articles:1. Egypt's great concern and progress in the field ofimprovement of the environment.2. The impact of environmental and health factors inEgypt.3. The protection of the Mediterranean from pollution.4. The pollution of air by gases emanating from cars.5. The conservation of Nature in Egypt.6. Environmental activities in Egyptian Provinces.7. Malaria as an environmental disease (a lesson fromSingapore).8. The role of youth unions and voluntary groups in theservice of the environment.9. Professional health-hazards in places of work.10. Agricultural reform.Environmental Conservation wishes this new Journalevery success in the service of the environment throughoutEgypt and the Arab world, but suggests that, for non-read-ers of Arabic, at least a list of the titles translated intoEnglish could be given, together with transliteration of thenames of the often well-known Authors.M. A. Faridc/o World Health Organization1211 Geneva 27SwitzerlandThe IUCN Sahel Report: A Long-term Strategy for Envi-ronmental Rehabilitation. International Union for Conser-vation of Nature and Natural Resources, World Conserva-tion Centre, Avenue- du Mont-Blanc, CH-1196, Gland,Switzerland: 80 pp., illustr., 29.25 x 21 x 0.5 cm, stiff papercover, [no price indicated], 1986.This report of the IUCN Task Force on the Sahel andother drought-affected regions of Africa was published inMay 1986. It is a first-class review of the situation in theSahel (interpreted broadly), where human activity andwell-being depend so intimately on the natural environ-ment—indeed in a much more direct way than in regionswith more favourable climates. The report deals in a bal-anced and frank way with the present difficulties, and withthe ways in which these are related to past situations. Itsprime concern is with people and the ways in which theyhave managed in the past, and could continue in the future,to cope with their harsh environment in which even minorfluctuations—in, say, climate or the numbers of cattle—inevitably have serious consequences.Although the report constitutes a general review of theproblems, there is plenty of evidence that the conclusionsand recommendations are based on real-life experiences inmany parts of the Sahel. The Task Force itself is notable inthat 19 out of its 23 members are (or at any rate were, at thetime when the work was done) based in tropical Africa, anda majority were born there.There is much emphasis on the importance of under-standing the ways (ecological and sociological) in whichtraditional life-styles have coped with the environment;also a frank critique of the ways in which these life-styleshave been affected—often ruptured—by outside in-fluences, including trans-Saharan caravans, colonial andtrade influences and, in more recent years, the attitudes oftown-based governments and 'civil/military insecurity'.Altogether, this is an excellent report which should beread by all who have an interest in the problems which itcovers. IUCN deserve strong support by all who can help tocarry out the recommendations for action at national andinternational levels which are set out so clearly in thisreport.RONALD W.J. KEAY38 Birch GroveCobhamSurrey KT11 2HREngland, UK.https:/www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0376892900017148Downloaded from https:/www.cambridge.org/core. University of Basel Library, on 11 Jul 2017 at 12:56:01, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at

Book Review: Journal of Development and the Environment: Journal of Development and the Environment (Al-Tanmiya wa Al Beaah: in Arabic), No. 3, 80 pages (27 × 19.5 × 0.3 cm), Dar-Al-Maaref Printing Company, 11 Hassan Sabry Street, Zamalek, Cairo, Egypt, annual subscription US $5 outside Egypt, 10 1986

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