1973 iucn yearbook

sion did call for reduced quotas on fin, minke and sperm whales, but
this small gain was soon nullified by the action of Japan and the USSR,
which refused to adhere to the recommended quotas.
No evidence was received during 1973 that any species of animal had
become extinct, although the fate of the kouprey, the wild ox of Cambodia,
remained in doubt. Some surprising new bird species, including
a member of the honeycreeper family on Haleakala volcano in Maui,
Hawaii, and a kingfisher in the Cook Islands, were small but positive
gains. Perhaps it is worth remarking that there was also an "artificial"
loss of 13 bird species, if the conclusions of American taxonomists are
accepted and the 13 are in future considered only as subspecies of species
that are wider-ranging than previously supposed. Such fiats do not,
of course, affect life on earth or its real evaluation, even if they complicate
the work of those who are trying to ensure its conservation.
Progress was made toward establishing new national parks, and perhaps
most noteworthy was the action of Nepal in creating a new park
for Mount Everest in which 1,230,000 ha of the Himalayas will be
protected. In Nepal, also, the Chita wan reserve achieved national park
status. Also in France, Hungary, Kenya, Malaysia, Paraguay, Tanzania,
the United Kingdom and Zambia new national parks and reserves
satisfying the criteria for the 1974 UN List came into existence. Nevertheless
there remained a long way to go before it could be said that
representative areas of all the world's major ecosystems are adequately
protected. For some of these ecosystems, notably in the humid tropical
forest not only of Latin America, as already noted, but also in those of
South East Asia and to a lesser extent Africa, the rate of forest destruction
appeared to be accelerating.
Conservationists must look to 1974, not with great expectations, but
certainly with keen interest. The pace of events has accelerated in 1973
and there is no indication that it will slacken. Although in some countries
the voices of environmentalists were curiously muted in 1973, real progress
was achieved in others. Even if, at first glance, the energy crisis
took away some of the gains made in the past, sacrificing them for
short-term expedience, the fact stands out that 1973 was perhaps the
most significant year to date in bringing home to the politicians the
importance of environmental considerations. As never before they found
themselves compelled to relate their decisions to such considerations.
How soon and to what extent this will benefit the true and continuing
interests of conservation or the sane use of the planet's resources,
remains to be seen.
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