conservationist and interested tourist. Conservationists need to pay greater 
attention to this in future. 
Simon Albrecht 
Flyways and reserve networks for waterbirds edited by H. Boyd and J. - 
Y. Pirotr 1989. 109pp. English with French summaries. IWRB Special 
Publication No. 9. IWRB, Slimbridge, Gloucester GL2 7BX, England. No 
price given. 
This is a collection of the six papers given at a workshop on flyways and reserve 
networks held in conjunction with the Third Meeting of the Conference of 
Contracting Parties to the Ramsar Convention, 1987. Brief accounts of three 
other workshops at the conference as well as the recommendations of the 
conference as a whole are also included. 
The papers bring together recent population estimates of waders and wildfowl 
species that breed in the northern hemisphere, and they include much original 
and up-to-date information. They therefore provide an invaluable source of data 
necessary to put populations of wetland species into an international context. 
The other workshops, which are each summarised in two pages, addressed 
criteria for identifying wetlands of international importance, wise use of wet- 
lands, and the Ramsar Convention as a vehicle for linking wetland conservation 
and development. 
Chris Bowden 
The Scientific Results of the Royal Geographical Society's Oman 
Wahiba Sands Project 1985-1987. Edited by Dr R. W. Button; Assisted by 
Dr D. A. Bray. Journal of Oman Studies Special Report No. 3 1988. 
Pp XX + 576. £40. 
The Wahiba Sands are a relatively small, elongate sand sea in central Oman, at 
the eastern extremity of Arabia (maximum dimensions 195 x 85 km). They are 
isolated from and much smaller than the giant sand sea of the Rub' al Khali. The 
fauna and flora of extensive dime areas such as these have been little studied in 
the Middle East, and this was one of the reasons behind the Royal Geographical 
Society's decision to launch an ambitious and broad-based study of the Wahiba 
Sands, in co-operation with the Omani government. This hefty volume contains 
some of the results of that work: 23 papers xmder the heading 'Biological 
Resources'; 17 papers on Earth Sciences and 11 papers on Economy and Society. 
Of most relevance to OSME members are pp. 415-436: 'Birds of the Wahiba 
Sands' by M. D. Gallagher, who carried out the first ornithological survey of the 
sands, between December 1985 and March 1986. The systematic list reports 115 
species from the Scinds and the habitats fringing them; 24 species breed in the 
sands themselves. A number of discoveries included first breeding of Rufous 
Bush Robin Cercotrichas galactotes in Oman, most northerly record of Spotted 
Thick-knee Burhinus capensis in Arabia; and most southerly breeding in Arabia 
of Turtle Dove Streptopelia turtur. Striated Scops Owl Otus brucei, Indian Roller 
Coracias benghalensis. Yellow-throated Sparrow Petrcmia xanthocollis and Purple 
Sunbird Nectarinia asiatica. The harsh desert environment is moderated by the 
proximity of the coast and the cold summer waters of the Arabian Sea, and 
especially by the belts of Prosopis trees which run along wadis; the trees are very 
important in providing nesting, roosting and sheltering sites, as well as in 
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