Much of Madagascar's wildlife is threatened and remains poorly known despite a long history of research and conservation, both by the country's governments and by foreign scientists and conservationists. The fast growing human population and fragmentation of the country's forests mean that there is an urgent need for research. Lee Durrell is Chairman of the International Advisory Group of Scientists set up in February 1983 to vet research projects in Madagascar proposed by foreign workers. In December 1984, at a London meeting held jointly by the FFPS and the British Ornithological Union, she presented a paper on recent research by foreigners; the following is an updated extract.

The broad vision of the new environmentalist, who seeks to conserve the world's ecosystems for the sake of the human species as well as wildlife, has much to commend it. Beside it, the traditional conservationist's approach, aiming to conserve wildlife for its own sake, seems outmoded. The development of the concept of ecosystem management, however, has been accompanied by other shifts in emphasis. Among them is the idea of wildlife as an economic asset, paying for its own conservation by providing, for example, tourist revenue and pharmaceuticals. This development may seem to be the fulfilment of the dream of those who want to ‘sell’ conservation to those with power over the environment. The author, who has recently completed writing the ICBP/IUCN Red Data Book on African birds, offers a personal view of where the new trend may be leading many of the threatened species of the earth.

The northern subspecies of white rhino Ceratotherium simum cottoni is very close to extinction. Probably fewer than 50 remain in the wild and only 13 are known in captivity. Garamba National Park in northern Zaire contains the only potentially viable group, of 15–20 individuals, and here there is a possibility of action to save them.

Jamaica has 22 native mammal species. One of these is an endangered rodent, the Jamaican hutia Geocapromys browni; the rest are all bats. Fifteen of these bats depend entirely or significantly on caves as roost sites, including two endemic species and seven endemic subspecies. These cave-dwelling bats often form large colonies whose guano deposits are of significant economic value as fertilizer, but which are vulnerable to disturbance and roost destruction. The author, who has visited and worked in many of Jamaica's bat caves over the past eight years, is currently researching the evolution and development of the Antillean bat faunas.

MacGillivray's or the Fiji petrel was known only from a single specimen collected in 1855 on Gau Island. In 1984, after months of searching, a single adult flew into Dick Watling's spotlight and collided with his head. It was examined, photographed and released. Nothing more is yet known about its status or its breeding site, although the latter is suspected to be in the cloud forests of highland Gau. In the course of his visits, the author also made other discoveries about the Island's poorly studied fauna.

The Madagascan tortoise Geochelone yniphora, known locally as the ‘angonoka’, is found only near isolated patches of bamboo forest in the vicinity of Baly Bay in north-western Madagascar. As part of an Oxford University Expedition, and with some help from the Oryx 100% Fund, the author, together with Ian Scoones, Mike Guy and Gilbert Rakotoarisoa, has recently carried out a survey of the area. In this article, he discusses the conservation of this highly endangered animal.

A survey of orangutans in Sabah, Borneo, which was carried out by the author and John Payne, resulted in an encouraging picture. In the primary forest of eastern Sabah alone, there are at least 4000 orangutans, but habitat destruction is fragmenting the population. Hunting is also common, especially in the central and western areas where orangutans are already scarce. Some orangutans are protected in conservation areas, but the future of the species outside these places depends on logging being carried out in a more conservation-oriented way. Among other things, we need to discover the size of primary-forest patches that need to be left in logged forest to support a viable population of orang-utans, which will be able to recolonize the logged forest as it regenerates.