284 Biological Conservation

all, and it should always be borne in mind that the collection of fees is a burden.

The yearly cost of running our model Park came out to some $190,000, but this included $20,000 for guides who pay for themselves through guiding charges to visitors. The balance of the yearly cost of the Park, $170,000, could be reduced by more than 20 per cent, to $130,000, or to only one-third of the Government's direct revenues attributable to the Park's existence, tf the Park's management does not have the responsi- bility of collecting money. For example, accounts are greatly simplified, the costs of protecting and trans- porting money from isolated gates to banks is elimi- nated, gate clerks need less qualifications, and so on.

It is true that many a government treasury can acquire a convenient blind-spot when it comes to allocating funds to those sources which raise direct revenue for it. The Park ought to be considered an infrastructure item, like a bridge or the police force; but, should the Government wish it, a far simpler method of raising additional revenue to pay directly for the upkeep of the Park would be to raise the $130,000 by a concession fee charge of $2.00 on the 66,000 bed-nights sold by the two hotels.

In any event, it can be appreciated that, given the ready availability of a tourism market, the cost of establishing and running an African National Park is very small when set against the overall economic benefits which can be derived directly from it for the national good. At the same time, a national heritage will have been conserved to be enjoyed by future generations relatively unimpaired. For, coming into our model 5,600 sq km Park, one would expect not more than a hundred cars on peak days--and provided there are, by careful planning, at least three or four main focal points of interest, there would be little likelihood of 'overcrowding' and still less of irre-

versible damage of an ecological nature. These latter problems arise only in the next phase of development. By this time it is to be hoped that the Park authorities would be sufficiently well regarded and respected to be able to resist successfully any moves that would threaten the ecological survival of the Park or a visitor's enjoyment of it--let alone detract from its educational value or the possibility of scientific research in it throwing up discoveries as vital to the survival of the human race as to that of other beings with which we must share our planet.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

This article draws extensively, by kind permission of the Director, on working knowledge of the Tanzania National Parks' budgets, while the section on roads is based on a feasibility study entitled 'Road and Transportation Equipment for Tanzania National Parks', produced privately for USAID by The Ralph M. Parsons Company, Los Angeles, in 1966--a study to which the author contributed extensively. The original basis for the figures used in the section headed 'Economic Benefits of Tourist Industry' are unpublished statistics produced in 1964 by the now defunct East African Tourist Travel Association.

References

ANON. (1964). East African Tourist Travel Association, unpublished statistics.

ANON. (1967). Appendix 'A', pp. 23-42 in Survey for Proposed Mount Kilimanjaro National Park, Tanzania. US National Park Service, Washington D.C., 48 pp., illustr.

OWEN, J. S. (1969). Development and consolidation of Tanzania National Parks. Biological Conservation, 1 (2), pp. 156-8, with map.

Everyman's

A scheme to make every young European citizen aware of his or her individual and collective responsi- bility for the environment has been launched by the 17-nation Council of Europe.

The basic idea is to teach children, from nursery to secondary schools, respect for all forms of life, and to introduce the principles of ecology into lessons such as history, civics, and chemistry. By learning how Man transforms and exploits Nature, it is hoped that pupils will acquire a new attitude towards the environment and will be better equipped to shoulder their responsibilities for its preservation.

Guidelines for teachers and education authorities, recently recommended to member governments by the

Environment

Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe, are now available. These will be applied in drawing up or revising school curricula, suitably adapted to the subject being taught and the educational level reached.

The Ministers have also called for the special training of teachers to further action, both in and out of school, and for the organization of initiation courses dealing with environmental problems, in particular for young people.

COUNCIL OF EUROPE, Maison de l'Europe, 67 Strasbourg, France.