1973 iucn yearbook

guished career in Africa. From 1966 to 1972, he was Chairman of the
International Commission on National Parks, and principal compiler
of the definitive Second Edition of the UN List of National Parks and
Equivalent Reserves. He serves at the Université Libre de Bruxelles,
and is a Member of Honour of the Union.
The early history of the Union corresponds exactly with the
period when it was called IUPN: International Union for the
Protection of Nature. This eight-year period ended in 1956. Until
1954, the President was Charles J. Bernard, also President of the
Swiss League, who had been the leading personality in Brunnen;
he was succeeded by Roger Heim. The Secretariat of the organization
fortunately was based in Brussels, and I was able to carry
out the functions of Secretary General on a part-time basis.
During this entire period, the Secretariat was identified with the
well-known personality of Marguerite Caram. Re-elected in
Copenhagen in 1954, I unfortunately had to resign the following
year when I was appointed Governor of Ruanda-Urundi.
The first steps of the organization were made easier by support
from two sides: from UNESCO, where four individuals deserve
special mention - Julian Huxley, Pierre Auger, Eileen Sam and
Alain Gille; and from Belgium, where Victor Van Straelen served
as a particularly active and powerful advocate of the Union.
The names of most of the Executive Board members elected at
Fontainebleau have not been forgotten. Among them, Harold J.
Coolidge, acting as Vice-President, undoubtedly saved the organization
from bankruptcy, thanks to grants he secured from the
United States during the first years. Another leader who must be
mentioned is Walery Goetel, whose recent death is much to be
regretted.
In 1948, the first Board set down the guidelines for the organization's
early policy. It was directed, on the one hand, by the
Statutes in which the concept of nature protection reflected the
concerns of the time, and, on the other hand, it was restricted in
its ambitions by an annual budget of only several thousand
dollars.
To appreciate these early guidelines one must consider the
conditions prevailing at that time. There were still very few
countries where organizations devoted all their time to the
conservation of nature. A few isolated individuals working in
universities and museums were launching lonely battles, with
little contact among them. There was no international centralized
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