Nature conservation aims to safeguard in perpetuity the essential subjects of study for natural scientists interested in the biota and the physical features of this country. Its basic strategy is to promote measures which minimize environmental damage resulting from human activities, following an evaluation of intrinsic importance of the features concerned and their vulnerability to disturbance. The establishment of nature reserves makes it possible to safeguard the most important areas of land and water by appropriate management programmes, and there are at present 150 National Nature Reserves, covering ca. 120 +000 ha. Lesser categories of safeguard include Sites of Special Scientific Interest, of which 3500 have been notified. Conservation outside these protected areas is achieved by the provision of advice on land use and planning, by publicity and education and by legislation. The efficacy of these measures depends on adequate scientific information from surveys, recurrent observations and ecological research. This necessitates a considerable research effort yielding in return the substantial advances in basic ecological understanding which are an ultimate aim of nature conservation.