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In this issue

210 Th e comed y o f surviva l by Joseph W . Meeker Is the ecological crisis the product of man's heroic attitudes ? Would comedians fare better?

216 Ho w man y ca n w e fee d ?

by Malcolm Slesser Agriculture considered in terms of its energy utilisation

222 Som e o f m y bes t friend s are moto r car s by Peter Bunyard Review article

226 Developmen t an d huma n ecolog y by Robert Waller The story of the Commonwealth Human Ecology Council

228 Th e flower s are no t fo r u s t o pic k by John Blackwood The threat to wild flowers from students of botany

201 News 207 Comment Who's afraid of aid ?

209 Gremlin 230 Toward s a unified science The directivity of cultural behaviour 231 Demo-technology Heat pump heating

232 Down t o earth High-speed protein builder

233 Friends o f th e Earth 234 Books 237 Letters 220 Classified advertisements 220 Coming events

Publisher : Edward Goldsmith; Editors : Robert Allen, Peter Bunyard, Edward Goldsmith; Managin g Editor : Michael Allaby; Associat e Editors : John Davoll, Jimoh Omo Fadaka. Gerald Foley, Lawrence D. Hills, Brian Johnson, S. G. Lawrence, Jean Liedloff, Andrew MacKillop, Charles Maclean, John Papworth, Graham Sear/e Robert Waller, Richard W/llson. Al l communication s shoul d b e sen t t o Th e Editors , Ecologist , 7 3 Moleswort h Street . Wadebridge , Cornwal l PL2 7 7DS . Telephon e Wadebridg e 2996/7 . Al l advertisin g enquirie s t o Interpress , 1 9 Ann e Boleyn' s Walk , Cheam , Surrey . Tel . 01-64 2 5826 . Publishe d b y Ecosystem s Ltd. , registere d offic e 73 , Moleswort h Street , Wadebridge , Cornwal l PL2 7 7D S an d distribute d b y th e Hachett e Group , Continenta l Publisher s an d Distributor s Ltd. , 4 Regen t Place , Londo n W 1 R 6B H ; Telephone : 0 1 -73 4 525 9 ; Telegrams : Alibrair i Londo n W 1 ; Tele x 25114 . Subscrip tion s to : Th e Ecologist , 73 , Moleswort h Street , Wadebridge , Cornwal l PL2 7 7DS . Printe d b y Th e Garde n Cit y Press Ltd. , Pixmor e Avenue , Letchworth , Hertfordshir e SG 6 US .

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Bangladesh continued from page 201 Even with a drastic reduction in population growth, density will rise from 3.3 persons per acre of cultivable land to 6.8 in 2003. The UNROD team adds:

" A fundamental revision of the landholding and settlement patterns will become essential to make use of modern agricultural inputs". As for education, UNROD states:

"The attainment of the nation's cherished goal of improved education for all its children will be difficult under the most favourable circumstances. Even with replacement level within 30 years, the number of school age children will increase almost 50 per cent between 1973 and 2003, and if school attendance goes up to include 95 per cent of the children instead of the present 35 per cent, the number in school will increase four and a half times. With no reduction in population growth, the respective increases will be three times as many school age children, and eight and a half times as many in school".

Poor family planning results Past efforts in population planning have given poor results, due to: "a. dependence at grass roots level on illiterate 'dais' (midwives) and vasectomy agents who were attracted to the programme through a system of monetary incentives but mostly had no lasting commitment to the programme or to their clients; b. emphasis on quantitative targets encouraging reporting of inflated figures; c. payments on a case basis and on-

the-spot cash incentives resulting in wide-scale corruption and malpractice; d. increase of the volume of paper

work by the cash incentive system which converted personnel whose primary responsibilities should have been supervision, motivation and education of field workers into deskbound bureaucrats; e. lack of co-ordination between the research and operating units resulting in failure to use research continued on page 205