The Seychelles are the only high oceanic islands of granitic origin and their native vegetation is thus of considerable botanical interest. In the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries widespread clearance for coconut and cinnamon plantations resulted in native forest being confined mainly to montane areas. Cinnamon has proved to be very invasive in natural forest and a number of other introduced plant species have also been recognized as problematic for some time. Recent studies have revealed that two more introduced plant species - Memecylon floribunda and Clidemia hirta - are significant new threats to native vegetation on Mahe and Silhouette, respectively.

Vietnam's exceptionally rich fauna is threatened by habitat loss and hunting. Although a system of protected areas has recently been developed, many of the sites selected are subject to human encroachment, hunting pressure and other forms of exploitation. Other protected areas may be too small to hold viable populations of primates. Following faunal surveys of existing and proposed protected areas in Vietnam between 1988 and 1991, this paper documents the status of and identifies threats to three species of threatened primate: white-cheeked gibbon Hylobates leucogenys gabriellae, red-shanked douc langur Pygathrix nemaeus and blackshanked douc langur P. nigripes.

From 1989 to 1991,22 captive-reared Andean condors Vultur gryphus were released into three protected areas in the Andes of Colombia, South America. The goals of this reintroduction programme were to re-establish populations of these birds in protected habitat where the species had been extirpated, and to train local biologists in the conservation techniques necessary to recover their native condor. All birds were hatched, reared and released according to the protocols established by the US Fish and Wildlife Service and the California Department of Fish and Game for the California condor Gymnogyps californianus. At the time of release, the birds ranged in age from 11 to 26 months. Each bird was fitted with individually numbered wing tags and wing-mounted radio transmitters. Of the 22 released animals, 19 currently survive – a substantial increase to the wild population in Colombia, which had been estimated by Colombian biologists to number only 20 individuals.

The authors visited Yemen on behalf of WWF International in April 1992 to find out what had been happening to the rhino horn trade since their last visit to the country during the Gulf Crisis in November 1990. From 1985 to 1990, Yemen's rhino horn imports had decreased very sharply compared with the 1970s and early 1980s. From August 1990 to March 1992, however, a considerable increase in imports occurred, with just over 750 kg of rhino horn being brought into Yemen. The reason for the increase was not a rise in the wholesale price of rhino horn – this is still half that paid in Taiwan. The main reason for the increase is that new and easier trade routes have opened up, primarily from Tanzania by air to Saudi Arabia or the United Arab Emirates and then overland to Yemen.

For many years the Fauna and Flora Preservation Society has supported efforts to conserve forests in the Albertine Rift Afromontane Region of east-central Africa. The biodiversity of these forests is especially high but most have been destroyed or badly degraded. There are a large number of local, national and international initiatives to conserve at least some of the forests that remain. In 1991 Uganda created the Rwenzori Mountains, Mgahinga Gorilla, and Bwindi-Impenetrable National Parks, thus protecting all three of its Albertine Rift montane forests. This paper presents a synopsis of the conservation values of these three parks, and describes the conservation problems and the efforts to help ensure their proper development and long-term viability. Considerable progress towards the conservation of all three areas has already been made and future prospects are good, particularly for the mountain gorilla Gorilla gorilla beringei.

A survey of the Western Area Peninsula Forest in Sierra Leone in 1990 located eight breeding sites of the white-necked picathartes–a striking endemic West African forest bird threatened with extinction. Several breeding sites were in areas of fairly intense human activity and in danger of imminent destruction. Subsequent observations revealed successful breeding in 1990 and unsuccessful attempts in 1991. This population is probably only just viable. The discovery of Jentink's duiker–Africa's rarest duiker–in the same forest in 1988 and the presence of three threatened primate species prompted calls for urgent conservation action. The precarious status of the white-necked picathartes population provides another compelling reason for such action.

Reconnaissance surveys were made of the forests of four central African countries to establish, for the first time, the status of forest-dwelling elephants. The results, when combined with information from previous surveys in other countries, provide a picture of the elephant situation in the forest zone, and especially the impact of poaching. About one-third of the forest elephant population of central Africa is to be found in Zaire, and about one-third in Gabon. The rest are in Cameroon, Central African Republic, Equatorial Guinea, and Congo. It is poaching for ivory, rather than the growth of human populations, which threatens the elephants of the equatorial forests.

Nazinga Game Ranch, which was established in 1979 in Burkina Faso and is the only one of its kind in the country, has achieved much success in reconciling wildlife conservation with the needs of local people. The ranch provides a refuge for elephants escaping harassment elsewhere but this creates problems for local people whose crops suffer elephant damage. Despite the problems, many villagers welcome the proximity of the ranch and its elephants and, while there are still problems to be solved – and funds needed to help solve them – the ranch is an excellent model for conservation action.

A visit to the Tsingy de Bemaraha in Western Madagascar was undertaken in 1991 to survey the lemurs of this little known reserve. Preliminary results of field observations and interviews with local inhabitants are presented together with notes on the forests, the human population and the conservation status of the region.

Rubber tapper communities along the large white-water rivers of central-western Brazilian Amazonia rely heavily on local fish stocks all year round. This subsistence fishing faces severe competition from commercial fishing boats from urban centres, which in some areas have over-fished the economically most important fish species. In the Juntá River and its oxbow lakes, two species of freshwater crocodilians – the black and the spectacled caiman – indirectly benefit subsistence fishermen by disrupting commercial fishing operations. The gill-nets used by commercial fishing boats are often damaged beyond immediate repair by the caimans as they make easy pickings of the catch. This appears to deter overharvesting of important fish stocks in many sections of the river. In contrast, subsistence fishermen use fishing gear that is rarely damaged by caimans. It would seem that caimans at their present numbers offer protection to local fish stocks by reducing the efficiency and financial viability of commercial fisheries, which would otherwise rapidly reduce fish yields for local rubber tappers.

A survey of the distribution of the yellow-footed rock-wallaby Petrogale xanthopus was carried out in Queensland from 1984 to 1987. The species was found at 44 sites to the north and north-west of Adavale in south-western Queensland, mainly in the rugged country along the edges of low sandstone tablelands and hills. The size of the rock-wallaby population could not be estimated with accuracy, but is considered to be of the order of 5000–10,000 animals. The species is vulnerable because of property development in the area and possibly because of competition from other herbivores. The authors recommend regular monitoring of the population size.