following the successful expedition to North Yemen. Having explored a 
number of options, plans for work in Turkey are progressing (see below) 
and we are pursuing possibilities for South Yemen. Once the projects are 
underway, CRC will continue to provide help and advice. These projects 
have been the conunittee's recent priority, but we also consider grant 
applications submitted to the Conservation Research Fund, and we are 
always looking for ways to promote conservation and OSME within the 
Middle East - recentiy we approved funding Hilary Welch to represent 
OSME at tiie ICBP conference in Adana, Turkey (see Bulletin 23). 
Turkey update 
Plans for a large-scale expedition to Turkey this year have had to be 
modified. For a number of reasons, we were forced to wait before 
pressing ahead, by which time it was too late to submit an application to 
the Turkish authorities. And following feedback from DHKD (the Society 
for Protection of Nature in Turkey), the emphasis has been changed 
towards the promotion of smaller-scale projects over a number of years. 
The note in the last bulletin prompted an excellent response from the 
OSME membership. Although no expedition is to take place this year, 
some of those who responded are now planning to visit areas identified 
by OSME as being in need of attention, as part of their holidays. We are 
also following up possibilities of arranging for OSME members with 
good ornithological knowledge to liaise with Turkish birdwatchers and 
share their expertise and enthusiasm. 
Anyone interested in either targeting their Turkish bird watching towards 
lesser-known areas in need of investigation, or in meeting up with 
Turkish birdwatchers, please let us know. We will then send an up-to- 
date list of such areas or do what we can to co-ordinate with people in 
Turkey. Future plans for more structured work in Turkey will be 
announced in due course. For anyone wishing to contact Dogal Hayati 
Koruma Demegi (DHKD) directly, their address is as follows: DHIGD, 
Kus Bolumu (Bird Section), PK 18 80810 Bebek, Istanbul, Turkey. 
Conservation Research Fxrnd - Why not apply? 
A total of £500 in grants is available each year for proposed 
ornithological/conservation work within the remit of OSME. The 
amounts given normally range from £50 to £300. We would welcome 
more applications to the fund. We get rather few, and some of those that 
we do receive give too little detail, are submitted shortly prior to 
departure, or are otherwise unsuccessful. This could be remedied by 
following the criteria given below. Whilst there is no specific deadline 
for submissions, we advice applicants to submit proposals at least six 
months prior to the start of the project. 
Submissions should be sent to: Chairman of Conservation Research 
Committee, OSME, c/o The Lodge, Sandy, Bedfordshire SG19 2DL, UK. 
Please use the following guidelines for the submission of projects to the 
OSME Conservation Research Fund. 
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