Proact, the international coalition of birders (see Brit. Birds 94: 608), is achieving impressive results on several fronts. A notable success in late November was an amendment of the Mining Law by the Slovak parliament, following sustained lobbying by Proact members. Proact was mobilised by the Slovak pressure group SOSNA, in order to protect the forest and lakes of the country's limestone karst from quarrying. Slovak MPs agreed with the environmental groups, and voted by 102 to nil to give the karst greater protection.

Hunters in Malta are beginning to feel the heat as Proact cam­paigner David Camilleri mounts a sustained letter-writing operation in the Malta Independent, warning the island's tourist industry that enlightened holidaymakers will boycott Malta unless it stops its fellow countrymen from killing Europe's migrant birds. In addition, like the RSPB (see page 95), Proact is working on behalf of migrants in Cyprus, too. Since the British Government, because of its permanent military presence on the island, has particular leverage with the Cypriot authorities, Proact will be lobbying the UK to stop the hunters from flouting the law within the British Sovereign Base Areas. The Proact website can be reached via http://proaction.tripod.com or www.proactnow.org