Birkhead e; al. (t973) have recently reported that a number of auks and gulls which became lightly polluted with oil around the Pembrokeshire islands succeeded in cleaning themselves within a couple of weeks. It seems possible that the two specimens under consideration show very well the !ate effects of such cleaning activities wiaere small amounts of oil lodged on their wings. Associated intestinal symptoms might be due either to zhe past ingestion of oil during preening activities or to the effects of stress on birds suffering from exposure and debility as a result of damage to their plumage.

I am grateful to the members of Aberdeen University Bird Club and Prof~sor G. M. Dunnet for drawin8 my attention to these speeimem, whida are now lodged in the skin collection at the Zoology Department, Aberdeen University, where they were photographed by Mr A. Lug.s; also to Drs J. A. Bopn and C. Dawson of the Veterinary Hospital. Glasgow University, rbr

investigating :he first ;pecimen; and tc Dr R. J. Kennedy for his comments on it.

W. R P. BOURNE The Seabird Group, Department o f Zoology, University of Aberdeen, Tillydrone Avenue, Aberdeen AB9 2T.V. Scotland.

Birkhead, T. R., Lloyd, C. & Corkhill, P. ~1973). Brit. Birds, 66: 535--537.

Bourne, W. R. P. & Bogan, J. A. (1972). Mar. Poll. Bull., 3: 171-175.

Croxall, J. P. (1972). Mar. Poll. Bull., 3: 149-152. Grant, P. J. (1972). Brit. Birds, 65: 86. Hays, H, & Risebrough, R. W. (1972). Auk, 89: I9-35. Kennedy, g. J. (1970). Brit. Birds, 63: 34-36. Kennedy, R. J. (1972). Brit. B/rds, 65: 8.5-87. Kennedy, R. J. & Bourne, W. R. P. (1971). Brit. Birds, 64: 229-230. Scott, R. E. (1972). Brit. Birds, 65: 85.

UnP, ed En onment Programme: The viromnent

The United N a t l e i F.avtresmtmat Programme Secre- tariat has now settled into new ~ in Nnirobi, and its g o v e m ~ emmdi met there reemdy. An ambti/ms ~ r a m m e for iattstmat in morim lat~laam eoaa, ni and for the eomervatioa mtd m i I i g l m I t of mIrine reseux~ Im beea q n ~ ! q I , ~ tire h ~ d a i

for tl~ is weak. N e i - i e w l m m ~ orl~izatims have also held a meeflatg there and have made additioaal propemls for UNEP activity.

U N E P Governing Council, 2rid session, Nairobi, 1974

During the course of the past year the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) Secretariat has been in the process of moving its Headquarters from Geneva to Nairobi, where it is now permanently installed in the magnificent new Kenyatta Centre. The second sess/on of the Governing Council. consisting of 58 states, has just been held there, from March 11-22. This was an historic occasion because it was the first time that an international organi=t ion has held a meeting at its headquarters in a developing country. The Governing Council (GC) had before it, inter alia, for consideration the 1974 Environ- ment Programme, and a Review by the Executive Director, Mr Maurice Strong, of The Environmental Situation and of Activities Relating to the Environment Programme.2 The GC was also required to approve the apportionment of the Environment Fund resources among programme activities. The GC wiil itself subse- quently report on the Programme to both the UN General Assembly and to the Economic and Social Council. The purpose of the Environment Review is to identify problems and define objectives, to serve as an extended management information system and to identify gaps in action. At the moment, its framework is still on a selective and experimental basis and it did not this year review the marine environment. It is propomd that environmental action data sheets will be, completed by all relevant environmental agencies and action in all

t UNEP/GC/17iAdd 2, December 2, 1973. 2 UNEP/GC/14/Add i, January 11, 1974.

subject areas will then be reviewed. Allocation of expenditure and resources to environment activity, including the oceans, by states and agencies is shown. UNEP stresses its interest in the need for the long-term planned approach to replace the present reliance on short-term technological remedies.

N o n - g o v e r n m e n t a l O ~ t i o n s N a i r o b i Coafereace , M a r c h 1 9 7 4

Immediately preceding the 2nd Session of the GC, a unique and important meeting of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) took place. Before outlining its recommendations, it is necessary first to survey the main features of UNEP, in relation to the Oceans, which is only one of six priority areas.

U N E P a n d t h e M a r i n e E n v i r o n m e n t UNEP states that, in order that early and adequate

control measures may be taken, a systematic assessment of the state of the Marine Environment and its living resources is necessary, based on the surveillance and monitoring, research and evaluation of results and on the exchange of data and intbrmation, pursuant to the General Assembly's request in Resolution 3133 !XXVIII) of December !3, 197r3. This resolution suggests that the GC 'consider and decide upon making a detailed survey of living marine resources of the world's seas and oceans, threatened with depletion, to be carried out by UNEP in cooperation with FAO' and 'continue to direct special attention to the question of environmental protection of the seas and oceans, and in particular its living marine resources, and report thereon to the General Assembly'. The depletion of living resources and the need for international and concerted action was underlined in this resolution.

UNEP stresses the importance of the forthcoming Law of the Sea Conference (UNLOSC) to be held in Caracas in rune 1974. [t will be represented at the Conference, at which its Execmive Director hopes to make a statement.

UNEP notes that at its first session the GC decided that UNEP's objective for the oceans should be 'to

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detect and prevent serious threats to the health of the oceans through controlling both ocean-based and land- based sources of pollution, to ensure the continued vitalityof marine stocks'. It is estimated that to support the activities planned towards this end, the Environment Fund should allocate $2 million in 1974, $3 million in 1975, and $3-5 million in 1976. This may seem a some- what inadequate amount, bearing in mind the scale and magnitude of the tasks of detecting and evaluating marine pollution and fisheries depletion, even taking into account research projects and monitoring under- taken by states and regional and international agencies. An examination of the following detailed tasks which the GC has already required UNEP to undertake in the field of marine pollution alone, will more than tax the limited resources of staff and finance available.

The Ocean is divided by the programme into two sub-areas: (1) marine pollution and (2) conservation and management of aquatic resources.

(1) Marine Pollution The Executive Director is required:

'To carry out objective assessments of problems affecting the marine environment an~ its living resources in specific bodies of water; To assist nations in identifying and controlling land- based sources of pollution, particularly those which reach the oceans through rivers; To stimulate international and regional agreements for the- control of all forms of pollution of the marine environment, and especially agreements relating to particular bodies of water; To urge the Intergovernmental Maritime Consultative Organization to set a time-limit for the complete pro- hibition of international oil discharges in the seas, as well as to seek measures to minimize the probability of accidental discharges; To develop a programme for the monitoring of marine pollution and its effects on marine ecosystems, paying particular attention to the special problems of specific bodies of water including some semi-enclosed seas, if the nations concerned so agree; To promote the development, on an entirely voluntary basis, of a register of clean rivers.'

These tasks will require certain specific actions, in cooperation with other bodies, viz: 'The development of a system for monitoring signi- ficant marine pollutants; The encouragement and support of existing prograrnmes for research into and evaluation of marine pollution, and in particular the major programme for the Global Investigation of Pollution in the Marine Environment (GIPME); The development of an inter-disciplinary referral system covering marine pollution data and scientific information, in conjunction with the International Referral System; The formulation of a programme of training courses relating to marine conservation and pollution problems; The encouragement of the conclusion of international and regional agreements for the control of marine pollution from all ocean sources as well as of pollution in specific bodies of water.'

The estimated funds required for this arc $I .5 million for 1974, $2 million for 1975 and $2.23 million for 1976.

The tasks involve: (a) Assessment of Marine Pollution. Study and research

is already taking place over a wide field, and more is planned by such bodies as GIPME (under the IOC), in co-operation with SCOR, ACMRR, ACOMR, ECOR, GESAMP, WMO, TEMA, ICES. In particular, GIPME plans to produce a report on the health of the o~.ans; GESAMP has working groups considering specific forms of marine pollution, including the effects of oil on marine eca>-systcms, selection of sites for disposal of wastes into the sea and establishment of environmental criteria for coastal water quality. UNEP intends to support all these projects and also an IAEA symposium on the evaluation of radiological impacts of the release of radioactive effluents from nuclear facilities into the aquatic environment. Workshops and studies for specific seas are also planned (for the Mediterranean, the Caribbean and the Indo-Pacific area). Future plans include the follow-up of all these activities, initiation of training schemes, and support for the International Referral System, which is to assemble qtmntified in- formation about existing conditions, inter alia, in the oceans; assessed documentary information (about tech. niques for monitoring, evaluation and control of en- vironmental factors); and bibliographical data.

(b) Control of Marine Pollution. UNEP draws attention to the increasing need for international agreements to control marine pollution and expresses satisfaction with the ]972 London Convention on the Prevention of Marine Pollution by the Dumping of Wastes and other Matters in the Oceans, and with the 1973 IMCO Con- vention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships and the Protocol Relating to Intervention on the High Seas in Cases of Marine Pollution by Substances other than Oil.

UNEP plans a further role in support of these Con- ventions: in the case of the London Dumping Con- vention, by ensuring the availability of scientific expertise for the ,review and updating of its technical annexes. They also intend to co-operate with IMCO in ,scientific and technical studies in pursuance of the numerous resolutions adopted at the 1973 IMCO Conference, calling for such studies in particular fields and for effective implementation of the conventions.

UNEP is also supporting further regional conferences and the negotiation of possible agreements for the Gulf, the Mediterranean, the Baltic and Black Sea areas.

U~'~_,P and the Law of the Sea Conference UNEP's contribution will be:

To facilitate a study of the environmental impacts of the exploration and exploitation of seabed resources on measures for preventing and controlling marine pollution resulting from such activities; To cooperate in coordinating work on environmental aspects of the Law of the Sea; To promote scientific, technical and financial co- operation, with a view to providing a basis for the further development of international legal measures for the prevention and control of marine pollution and for the protection of the living resources of the sea.

The Conference is likely to have a profound effect on U.-NEP's role, both within any international re#me established and, ff the Kenyan proposal for an Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) is adopted, in an advisory

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capacity to national governments in the formulation of pollution control measures within the EEZ. There is growing support for the conclusion of an international agreement on poUution control measures even if no new agency is established for the purpose.

Land-based Sources of Marine Pollution UNEP points out the inadequacies of present know-

~edge about the impact on the marine environment of pollution from this source and the lack of ~cientific assessment and guidelines. Some studies have been initiated by GIPME and WHO in relation to rivers and atmospheric pollution, respectively. An important break- through was the successful contusion by twelve Western European governments (in December, 1973) of the Paris Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from lana- based sources, situated ;.n the territories of the parties, through direct discharges into watercourses. The parties are obliged to take measures to prevent this, to enact specific regulations governing the quality of the environ- ment, to provide monitoring, and to establish a Com- mission to ensure observance of the terms of the Con- vention. If this Convention is widely ratified and if LrNEP can persuade other regions to follow suit, d~e future protecUon of the oceans from this source would be assured.

UNEP's planned actions include support for a joint working group concerned with River Inputs to Ocean Systems (RIOS), closely related to the International Hydrological Decade (IHD) and its network of river stations, and the (voluntary) institution of a Register of Clean Rivers, in association with UNESCO. UNEP also snpported a meeting of experts on Pollution of the Oceans Originating on Land (POOL), within the GIPME frame- work.

(2) Conservation and Protection of Living Aquatic Resources

Overfishing and increasing pollution have resulted in the need to establish guidelines for the ecologically sound management and adequate protection of living aquatic resources. The GC required the Executive Director to: 'Carry, out objective assessments of problems affecting the marine environment and its living resources in specific bodies of water; Prepare a survey of the activities of regional and inter- national organizations dealing with the conservation and management of the living resources of the oceans: Urge the International Whaling Commission to adopt a I0 year moratorium on commercial whaling.'

The Executive Director is conducting surveys in pursuit of the first two of these recommendations, and is planning the preparation of regional guidelines to protect living resources from marine pollution. These activities are estimated to require support from the Fund, of $0.5 million in 1974, $1 million in 1975 and $1-25 million in 1976. This would again seem to be rather inadequate, although UNEP stresses the on-going work of existing fishery commissions and councils.

UNEP records the conclusion on September 13, 1973, of a Convention on Fishing and Conservation of the Living Resources in the Baltic Sea and the Belts, which established permanent machineD" to effect this; and also that FAO has initiated a major data collection and

analysis programme on the effects of man-made changes in the environment on aquatic resources. UNEP plans several furtber survey~ of international and regional fisheries organizations, together with a programme of preparing guidelines for regional actions to protect living resources from marine pollution.

Conservation of aquatic mammals is under specific review by FAO. A working party is to report on stocks, etc. The Executive Director has, by written notes, urged those states engaged in whaling which are not members of zhe International Whaling Commission, to join this body. He ai~o plans an international whale research programme.

Conclusion Although the aim~ and aspirations of UNEP are

admirable, it is obvious that the bulk of the programme is an overview of on-going activity in existing national and international institutions and that the planned actions are basically supportive of these existing activi- ties. Bearing in mind the small funds and staff that UNEP has at its disposai, this is not perhaps surprising; however, if it is to make an impact in fulfilling its objectives of wise management of the oceans (as an ecological unit), it will surely have to be allowed to play a less general and more positive and innovatory role. It is along these lines that the Nairobi Conference of non- governmental organizations was able to make a useful contribution.

NGO Nairobi Conference, 1974 Following the success of the earlier NGO meetings in

support of the Stockholm Conference, NGOs concerned with the Global Environment held their First World Assembly in Geneva in i973 and elected an Environment Liaison Board, which organized the Nairobi Conference. The Conference, which was attended by over 150 dele- gates, met in plenary, session and a!so in ten working groups, one of which, under the sponsorship of the American Sierra Club, was devoted to the Marine Environment. UNEP has established a Section of its Secretariat exclusively to maintain liaison with NGOs. [t has arranged for them to be accredited observers at the GC, to be able to submit written statements for circulation to the delegations (based on the recom- mendations anti resolutions of the working groups), and for the Chairman of the NGOs to make an oral state- ment to the GC Session. The GC's Sessional Committee 1 (under the Chairmanship of Dr Martin Holdgate, UKI had the oceans on its agenda and it allowed a spokesman of the NGO's Working Group on the Marine Environ- ment to present its recommendations. These had been formulated after the Working Group had held a full discussion, following an address by an invited expert on the international law of the sea relating to marine environment, in which both interested NGOs and members of the UNEP staff concerned with the marine environment took part. It was also addressed by the Kenyan Director of Fisheries.

NGO's Recommendations on the Marine Environment

Attention was drawn to the responsibility of states to ensure that activities within their jurisdiction and control, including exploitation of the mineral resources of their continental shelves and related activities, do not cause

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damage to the environments of other states; and that there is currently no international mechanism for ensuring that they discharge this responsibility. NGOs asked the GC to authorize the Executive Director to initiate regional and international conventions clearly establishing this responsibility, and to promote at UNLOSC III (and thereafter) the establishment of an international regtme with authority to review and regu- late these obligations.

NGOs urged the GC to authorize the Executive Director to evaluate and correlate data required, with a view to warning states of the need for action in specific areas, and to support at UNLOSC the establishment within the international regime of an international body with responsibility for evaluating and managing the marine environment as an ecological whole.

Though welcoming the recent Conventions the NGOs pointed out that neither they nor most of the other relevant conventions were in force, and that they were deficient in enforcement and dispute settlement pro- cedures. They urged the GC to support the Executive Director to continue his efforts to secure speedy rati- fication of these conventions. They also suggested that the GC might consider drawing the attention of states to the possibility of using the good offices of the Execu- tive Director for the resolution of environmental disputes.

The NGOs considered that action so far taken to protect whales was inadequate and proposed that the GC ask the Executive Director to review the structure of the International Whaling Commission with a view t.o bringing to the attention of member states ways in which its defects might be remedied; a number of specific defects were itemized. NGOs suggested that considera- tion should be given to securing the cooperation of whaling states which suffered severe economic losses or burdens resulting from the conflict between their legiti.

mate economic activities and requirements for protection of endangered species (e.g. whales) by compensating them from an International Fund established for this purpose (which could be contributed to by all states). They proposed the convening of an International Conference to institute such a Fund and also to redefine the legal status of 'common property resources" to express and ensure the common interest of the world community as a whole in such resources and not just the states participating in exploiting them.

NGOs lastly asked the GC to advise the Executive Director, ;n cooperation with relevant international organizations, to promote the strengthening of existing fisheries commissions, by improving inspection and em'orcement provisions and maintaining species quotas which ensured maximum sustainable yields. The need for continued international surveillance of fisheries commissions, even if the LOSC results in wide extensions of national jurisdictions, was emphasised. The possibility of designating 'clear zones' in especially vulnerable areas for fisheries, was also recommended.

This notable exercise in, and encouragement of, grass-roots citizen participation in the formulation of measures and programmes for the protection of the marine environment is a remarkable development and it is to be hoped that it will continue to receive support at all levels. UNEP's and the GC's cooperation is to be greatly acclaimed and welcomed. As evidence of their desire to develop this cooperation to the utmost and make a continuing and useful contribution to UNEP, the NGOs haye opened a permanent office in Nairobi.

Dept. of Public International Law, University of Edinburgh, Old College, South Bridge, Edinburgh, EH8 9 YL, Scotland.

P. W. BIRNIE

Mercury Enrichment in Estuarine Plant Detritus Relative meremT ¢one~trations are enriched by a

factor of 10 in decompo~tion l a r i a t s of the red man- grove, Rhizophora .mangle, compared with living plant tissue. The ~ content of numgrove detritus is 3 to 30 times higher t h ~ values reported for marine phyto- plankton. Detritus formation rewes~ts a natural mechanism for meremT em-idunmt in estuarine food eha~,

The origin of a relatively high mercury, concentration in many of the top carnivores in aquatic food webs is an important environmental problem which remains un- solved. Considerable scientific literature has appeared during the past few years debating the relative contri- bution of anthropogenic mercury sources, compared with natural mercury, to the high tissue levels of this element observed in many fish and marine mammals (Johne!s et al., 1967; Evan et al., 1972; Ganther et aL 1972; Barber et al. 1972; Saperstein, 1973; Heppleston & French, 1973).

In estuarine and coastal waters paniculate plant detritus is a primary energy source for man 3" aquatic animals (Riley, 1970; Tea!, 1962). Analyses of one corn-

mon marsh plant, Spartina aherniflora, have demon- strated an enrichment of mercury and other metals in the plant tissue relative to the associated s~iiment and water (Williams & Murdoch, 1969; Windom, 1972.). However, the concentrations of metals in other important primary producers, and the fate of metals during the decomposition of plant tissue to detritus, has not been investigated. The present study was based on the hypothesis t~at metals may be enriched in the decomposition proddcts of the mangrove, a major primary producer in tropical estuaries, and provide a natural pathway for ).he accumulation of metals in food webs. The Florida Everglades were selected for study, because of the lack of any direct anthropogenic inputs into the system and the predominance of mangroves.

The samples reported in this study were collected from the estuaries draining the western portions of the Everglades National Park, Florida. Studies in this area by Heald (1971) have demonstrated that approximately 85% of the plant detritus in the coastal waters of the Everglades is derived from the decomposition of the red mangrove, Rhizophora mangle. Heald estimated that

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