Ecology in the 80s

Early in 1983, I invited a number of distinguished persons to contribute to a publication to be entitled "Ecology in the 80s. The intention was to capture a wide variety of views on the principal ecological problems of the present decade, together with some indication of the ways in which these problems might be solved. Each of the persons invited to contribute was left completely free to structure his contribution in any way he liked; most asked for guidance about the length of the contribution required, but did not otherwise seek any guidance about the structure of the contribution. Inevitably, many of the persons invited to contribute were unable to do so because of lack of time, commitment to other tasks, etc. Characteristically, however, some of the busiest people responded enthusiastically, and subsequently found the time to make the contribu'_ions which are contained in this short publication. I am extremely grateful to them for the way in which they responded to my invitation, and for the very open way in which they have expressed their views on current ecological and environmental issues. This short book then contains a number of separate contributions from persons actively involved with environmental concerns. None of them had seen the contributions made by the others, or, indeed, had any idea of the identity of the individuals concerned. Their views, therefore, represent a sample of the views held by an environmentally informed section of the British community.