Editorial

Abstract

The International Council for Bird Preservation is a world-wide society which has as its aim to bring about the preservation of all forms of bird life in every country of the world. Much has been achieved in recent years in this field but much still remains to be done, especially in countries in the Mediterranean basin. Countries like Cyprus still have an estimated annual slaughter of some 7,000,000 small birds while in the Lebanon some 200,000 shooters shoot indiscriminately at all sorts of birds and many are sold in bundles at the roadside. One argument of those who defend such slaughter is that it has gone on for centuries without reducing the total numbers of migrants. But with our higher standard of living, the diet of the countryman is no longer so meagre. The grim fact is that with increasing environmental pressure on birds, the present-day situation is quite different. The losses through trapping and shooting are now so serious that conservationists see them as the crucial factor that could tip the balance against many species.