April A August. 1999 
3 
all races— the Society had been firmly multi-racial since 
its inception) was recorded in 1936 
Matters came to a head in 1937 with the commis- 
sioning of an official Committee of Inquiry into the 
relationship between the Coryndon Memorial Trustees 
and the East Africa and Uganda Natural History Soci- 
ety. and into the conditions under which ihe Coryndon 
Memorial is maintained' Evidence was taken during 
June and the report published soon after After paying 
glowing tribute to the Society's efforts thus far. the re- 
port made practical suggestions for the future. In es- 
sence. the EANHS would hand over both its collections 
and the museum to a Board of Trustees, on which the 
Society would be represented 
The report was discussed during a Special General 
Meeting of the Society that October It uns clear that 
die museum had been nurtured to a stage where eco- 
nomic factors made it necessary for the state to step in 
The Society was asked to continue managing the mu 
seum (this time with some external Government sup- 
port) until January 1939. to give time for the appoint- 
ment of a Board of Trustees under the new ordinance 
The Society’s constitution was amended accordingly, and 
all museum assets, other than the library, were handed 
over in return for an annual payment of £100 for 15 
years. This was an almost nominal sum, only a tenth of 
the estimated value of die assets, but the Society as- 
sented willingly enough so as to give the new trustees 
the best possible start The EANHS. for its part, re- 
tained tree access to the museum, laboratories and col- 
lections. space 10 house its library and continue its meet- 
ings and other activities, and the right to nominate two 
members to the Board of Trustees (such members to 
represent scientific interest'). Dr V.G.L van Someren. 
Vice-President and a major contributor to developing 
the Society and its museum, became ihe first Museum 
Director (though he was to resign soon after, in 1941) 
The war years were difficult ones for the EANHS 
trying to keep activities and publications going was chal- 
lenging in the circumstances, especially with chronic 
shortages of paper and petrol Nonetheless, member- 
ship continued (o grow in fits and starts, the Journal 
continued to appear and publish interesting articles, and 
the Museum itself flourished steadily— 89.000 people 
visited during 1945 
The last 50 years have seen many ups and down 
However, the Society survived and. finally free of the 
administrative burden of running the Museum, has con- 
tinued to broaden its activities. Through the Journal, 
the Bulletin and other publications, much knowledge 
about East Africa's fauna and Horn was gradually put 
on record Landmark publications such as Birds of East 
Africa, Breeding Seasons of East African Birds and 
Upland Kenya Wild Flowers 1 2nd edn ). standard bird 
and mammal checklists, as well as monographs on 
(among others; cowries, butterflies, snakes, succulent 
plants, sedges, orchids and freshwater prawns, all sum- 
marised quantities of technical information for a wide 
audience Society members were involved in numerous 
and diverse biological projects, some lasting many yean 
and involving extensive co-ordination. These included 
collecting data on Black-headed Herons nesting in Nai 
robi. ccnsusing mammals and surveying plants in Nai- 
robi National Rirk, rescuing flamingo chicks at Lake 
Magadi. botanical mapping on the Ngong Hills, ring- 
ing migrant birds at Ngulia and elsewhere, collecting 
nest record card data, counting birds at a variety of 
sites, and a whole range of biodiversity surveys. 
The Society had always been in the forefront of the 
conservation movement, pressing in particular for the 
designation of national parks (both terrestrial and ma 
rine) In the last decade, the need to conserve 
biodiversity, and not just study it. has become ever 
clearer and more urgent The Society's programme now 
has a strong focus on conservation action Growing out 
of its participatory traditions, there is a special empha- 
sis on educating and involving young people and peo- 
ple living around key conservation sites. The EANHS. 
or Nature Kenya and Nature Uganda as it is now known 
In Kenya and Uganda respectively, is also shaking off 
its Image as n slightly dusty (albeit worthy) organisa- 
tion, and moving into its tenth decade with renewed 
vigour As Nature Kenya celebrates its 90th birthday, 
what bettor time to encourage others to join? 
Acknowledgement. This very brief history draws ex- 
tensively on the more detailed account by die late Mrs 
E. Angwin, published in six pans in the EANHS Bul- 
lelin of 1979 
Leon Bennun 
Chairman. EANHS 
ARTICLES 
KENYA’S LATEST SNAIL DISCOVERY. 
The East African region (Kenya. Uganda and Tanzania) 
is very rich in terrestrial molluscs wi(h over 1.063 
documented species (Verdcourt, 1983) and many more 
which are tindescribod (Tattcrsficld. 1998) In 
comparison, there 3re only 279 species preseni in 
northwest Europe (Kerney & Cameron. 1979) which 
has a larger land area. East Africa is also a notable 
mollusc centre of endemism (Emberton et al, 1997). 
Tlic regional mega-mollusc diversity is concentrated 
essentially within the tropical rain forests, for instance 
Kakamega forest in western Kenya (Thtlersficld. 19%). 
and highland forests (Verdcourt. 1983). The greatest 
endemism occurs m the Indian Ocean coastal forest 
and the Eastern Arc mountains ( Emberton ei al. .1997, 
Tattcrsficld. 1998). notably, the Usambaras. Pugu in 
Tanzania and Taita hills in Kenya among oihcrs. These 
mollusc hot spots and centres of endemism cover only 
2-3# of the region's land area (Saycr et al. 1992) 
and arc under intense pressure following human 
population explosion in recent times. 
Despite the high regional malncofauna diversity and 
