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over 35 million members.^[1] All of these indicate that the public puts a value on nature that is beyond the normal economic imperatives.

71. In response to this popular concern, governments have been moving to help species threatened within their borders, primarily through the establishment of additional protected areas. Today, the worldwide network of protected areas totals more than 4 million square kilometres, roughly equivalent to the size of most of the Countries of Western Europe combined, or twice the size of Indonesia. In terms of continental coverage, protected areas in Europe (outside the USSR) amounted by 1985 to 3.9 per cent of territory: in the USSR, to 2.5 per cent: in North America, to 8.1 per cent: in South America, to 6.1 per cent: in Africa, to 6.5 per cent; and in Asia (outside the USSR) and Australia, to 4.3 per cent each.^[2]

72. Since 1970, the networks have expanded in extent by more than 80 per cent, around two-thirds of which are in the Third World. But a great deal more remains to be done; a consensus of professional opinion suggests that the total expanse of protected areas needs to be at least tripled if it is to constitute a representative sample of Earth's ecosystems.^[3]

73. There is still time to save species and their ecosystems. It is an indispensable prerequisite for sustainable development. Our failure to do so will not be forgiven by future generations.

Footnotes

1/

J. McNeely and K. Miller (eds.), National Parks Conservation and Development: The Role of Protected Areas in Sustaining Society, Proceedings of the World Congress on National Parks (Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1984).

2/

W.B. Banage, 'Policies for the Maintenance of Biological Diversity', prepared for WCED, 1986: P.R. Ehrlich and A.H. Ehrlich, Extinction (New York: Random House, 1981); D. Western (ed.), Conservation 2100, Proceedings of Wildlife Conservation International and New York Zoological Society Conference. 21-24 October 1986 (New York: Zoological Society, in press); N. Myers, 'Tropical Deforestation and Species Extinctions, The Latest News' Futures, October 1985; R. Lewin, 'A Mass Extinction Without Asteroids', Science, 3 October 1986; P.H. Raven, 'Statement from Meeting of IUCN/WWF Plant Advisory Group', Las Palmas, Canary Islands, 24-25 November 1985; M.E. Soule (ed.), Conservation Biology: Science of Scarcity and Diversity (Sunderland, Mass.: Sinauer Associates, 1986); E.O, Wilson (ed.), Biodiversity, Proceedings of National Forum held by National Academy of Sciences and Smithsonian Institution. 21-24 September 1986 (Washington, DC: National Academy Press, forthcoming).

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1. Prof. Yazan, IUCN Vice-President and Regional Counsellor,IUCN Bulletin, Vol. 17, Nos. 7-9.
2. List O National Parks and Equivalent Reserves (IUCN: 1985).
3. NcNaely and Miller, op. cit.