230 Biological Conservation

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QUEZAUA, Jos6 Rutilio (1972-73). Personal communica- tions. Formerly Head of the Departmento de Biologta de la Universidad Nacional de El Salvador and currently Associate Research Entomologist of the University of California, Riverside.

SERRANO, J. Francisco & SERRANO, Miguel (1972). Las Mariposas de E1 Salvador. Primera Parte: Papilionidae. Communicaciones del Instituto de Ciencias Naturales y Matemdticas (San Salvador), 1, pp. 48-79.

STEINIaAUSER, Stephen R. (1972). Personal communication. Instituto Nacional de Investigaciones Geot6cnicas, San Salvador.

Voc;r, William (1963). Comments on a Brief Reconnaissance of Resource Use, Progress and Conservation Needs in Some Latin American Countries. The Conservation Foundation, Washington, D.C.: 26 pp.

HOWARD E. DAUGHERTY, Department of Geography and Institute of Ecology, University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia 30601, USA.

not merely by economic considerations but also by social ones. These factors, which are often ignored by current regional development policies, are duly taken into account in the Council of Europe's rural revival scheme.

The text observes that, in certain particularly deprived areas, the depopulation has reached the stage where all chances of future development of the area would be compromised. It notes also that the machinery for equalizing and redistributing national wealth is not strong enough to halt the present economic flow towards the cities and to the detriment of rural areas.

The Ministers' recommendations are based on previous work carried out by the European Conference of Local Authorities and the Intergovernmental Committee on Cooperation in Municipal and Regional Matters.

COUNCIL OF EUROPE, Maison de l'Europe, 67006 Strasbourg, France.

EUROPEAN PLAN TO REVIVE RURAL AREAS

Alarmed by the continuing depopulation of the countryside, the Council of Europe has recommended a series of measures to revive rural areas and ensure balanced development for both urban and rural regions.

Governments of member countries* are urged in particular to establish efficient, decentralized regional structures and strengthen local authorities, closely associating the local populations with the policies for rural revival. These policies should include such specific measures as the modernization of agriculture and the improvement of vocational training possibili- ties and public services in rural areas. They should be supported by appropriate schemes for decentralizing industry and developing tourism and recreation areas.

The text adopted by the Council of Europe's Committee of Ministers stresses the serious dis- advantages represented by the current migration from the country to the town. It notes that economic and social expansion in Europe has not lessened the differences between industrialized urban areas and peripheral rural zones. Moreover, there is evidence that the depopulation of the countryside is caused

* Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Denmark, France, Federal Republic of Germany, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, and United Kingdom.

LETHAL YELLOWING OF COCONUT PALMS IN FLORIDA

Lethal yellowing of Coconut was found in the Coral Gables area of Miami, Florida, in September 1971. This was the first report of the disease on the main- land of the United States, although it has been found in the Florida Keys, a group of out-islands, since 1955. Lethal yellowing was first found in 1891 in the Montego Bay area of Jamaica. It has since been reported from Grand Cayman, Bahamas, Haiti, Cuba, Panama, and Venezuela, as well as Togoland, Nigeria and Ghana.

As indicated by the name, the disease is lethal to trees, causing loss of nuts and blackened tips on new inflorescences, followed, in a period of from one to five months, by yellowing and death of the fronds and bud, leaving only the barren trunk standing. In the Miami area alone, over 400,000 coconut palms help to give a lovely tropical appearance to the area and also help to prevent beach erosion. Loss of this, the most popular tree in the South Florida area, would mean a loss of the tropical image that is almost unique in the USA. Over a million coconut palms are esti- mated for the State of Florida as a whole.

The programme that is being used to slow the spread of this deadly disease involves conducting both ground and helicopter surveys to attempt early detection of disease occurrence, using a basic plant pathology control measure of cutting down and bury- ing diseased trees to reduce the source of inoculum,