2. Legislation and international conventions Invertebrates are included in the wildlife legislation of many countries, notably in North America (see above) and Europe. In the U.K. Wildlife and Countryside Act, 19 of the 39 animals (excluding birds) listed for protection are invertebrates, including lf insects, three snails and two spiders. Specific invertebrates have been considered in some developing countries such as the Philippines and Papua New Guinea, which have enacted legislation respectively for corals and butterflies. However, legislation to protect individual species of invertebrates is not always useful unless it provides for stringent controls over habitat alteration. Legislation controlling the exploitation of invertebrates is often ineffective because this is rarely a crucial threat. No amount of protective legislation will succeed if a species' habitat is destroyed. In some cases a strict ban on collection may be a positive disadvantage if it prohibits collection for scientific work which could provide vital insight into the reasons for the decline of the species. Invertebrates are poorly represented on the Appendices of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) and many of those that are listed are only incidentally, or not at all, involved in trade. Consequently, the extent to which CITES can benefit invertebrates is a controversial issue. A positive aspect of CITES listing is that international attention is drawn to the species concerned, thus assisting conservation efforts at the national level. However, this is not the main purpose of CITES. For species to qualify for inclusion in one of the Appendices they should fulfil a strict set of criteria. The difficulty of obtaining the necessary information for invertebrates, in terms of numbers and rates of change of population size, means that few meet these criteria. Nevertheless, it is generally considered that certain species merit inclusion on Appendix II in order to provide means of monitoring international trade in them. Other international conventions have paid little specific attention to invertebrates. For example, the Berne Convention on the Conservation of European Wildlife and Natural Habitats, which came into force on 1 June 1982, lists only vertebrates and plants on its Appendices. Some conventions, such as the 1978 Barcelona Convention for the protection of the Mediterranean Sea against pollution and the 1971 Ramsar Convention for wetlands of international importance, may indirectly have beneficial effects. Since many invertebrates are threatened over wide geographical areas, or are migratory, international conventions could play an important role in their conservation. 3. Protected areas There are few examples of reserves created specifically for invertebrates although many species are afforded protection in national parks and protected areas established for more general reasons. However, in some countries, such as the U.K. and U.S.A. (see Insecta introduction), some sites have been selected for protection or as a high priority for conservation on the basis of their entomological importance, and there are isolated instances of reserves created for other invertebrates. Marine reserves play an important role in the conservation of marine invertebrates, ensuring the continued existence of breeding populations from which individuals can disperse to recolonize over-exploited or disturbed areas. In many parts of the world where the sea and its resources are valuable to people, marine areas and populations have been protected for centuries (8). Although such measures often arose from spiritual beliefs, many seem to have been introduced for functional purposes, such as the reduction of conflict over limited resources within and between communities of people. Many countries throughout the world are giving priority to the establishment of marine reserves. Management problems