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The Gough Island scientific survey (GISS) of 1955–1956 contributed greatly to knowledge of the natural history of that remote island in the south Atlantic. This note commemorates the expedition and provides information concerning it and its achievements. An outline is also given concerning the research that has since been undertaken on the island.

The oceans have a major influence on world climate and are an important source of food, most of which comes from the coastal zones. These zones, and the traditional, sustainable, life-styles of the fishing communities that live there, are under immense and growing pressure. Urbanization, pollution, sea level rise, and the destruction of natural coast defences and fish nursery grounds are undermining sustainability. Although chemical pollution in some areas, with some substances, is falling it remains a serious problem over the world as a whole. The United Nations Conference on the Human Environment, held at Rio de Janeiro in June 1992, recognized the need for more effective protection of the resources of the coastal seas, and a number of specific actions are set out in Agenda 21. But action is still not being taken on a scale which matches the problem. There are four probable reasons: first, the sea is still assumed to be too big to damage; second, jurisdiction is inadequate; third, serious national and international conflicts of interest remain; and fourth, economic distortions hamper sound judgement. The northern seas, which suffer less from these problems, should be demonstration areas for sound marine resource management.

The coastal zones are areas of high biological productivity and intense human pressure. Environmental challenges arise from pollution and from urban and industrial development. Administrative, social and legal challenges centre upon the need for sound management of coastal zone resources, as an important component of national strategies for sustainability. A number of specific actions have been set out in Agenda 21, the principal product of the Earth Summit held in Rio de Janeiro in 1992. But these need to be carried forward within cross-sectoral, integrated coastal area management procedures. International action is also needed because marine ecosystems rarely coincide with national boundaries, and are affected by international economic, social and legal decisions. International scientific co-operation on marine issues is already well established, and many regional action plans and Conventions have been adopted. Technological co-operation is less advanced. Such efforts need to be intensified, and continuously adapted. Sound plans for the future must be based on good science, critical economic evaluation of resources, sensitive evaluation of social and cultural factors and of the needs of local communities, evaluation of the risks of climate change, sea-level rise and other changes, and monitoring as a basis for continuing adaptation.

A mystery surrounds the failure to appoint Professor J.B. Cragg of Durham University as biological supervisor to the Falkland Islands Dependencies Survey in 1958. In a recent note in this journal Dr Lance Tickell argues that Sir Raymond Priestley is unlikely to have been responsible. Cragg's approach was, however, closely followed by the present author between 1961 and 1966 in the programme based on Signy Island, South Orkney Islands.

John Bryan Heaney, who died in November 2010 aged 79, was an outstanding field surveyor who made a major contribution to the mapping of South Georgia and created the first accurate map of Gough Island.

Allan Bryant Crawford MBE, who died on 5 March 2007 aged 94, had a unique knowledge of Tristan da Cunha, compiled during nearly seventy years of close association with the island and its people.

The world is a highly diverse place, and individual perceptions of the environment clearly depend on where people live, on their economic circumstances, and on their cultural and religious backgrounds. The Bedu of the desert, Inuit of the Arctic, Alacaluf of the Western Patagonian Channels, and San of the Kalahari interpret their environment in the light of thousands of years of experience and adaptation. The forester, hunter, fisherman, farmer, urban labourer, industrial tycoon and international civil servant each has his own special viewpoint. Moreover, perceptions of the environment inevitably change with experience, and the rates of such change also differ widely. Global generalisations about the perceptions of the environment today or a decade hence are impossible.

Living resources of polar zones (areas limited by the 10°C isotherm for the warmest month) have in the past been developed exploitively: examples range from 17th century Arctic whales to musk oxen, caribou, and most recently fin fish stocks from Antarctic waters. Mineral resources as yet remain under-developed, particularly in the Antarctic. This is due to a combination of technological problems imposed by the harsh environment, and marketing problems accentuated by remoteness. Recent scientific and technological advances make further mineral exploitation feasible, though markets do not as yet justify the high costs of development in the Antarctic, where there remain unsolved technical and transportation problems. Future exploitation of living resources is likely to be more conservative than hitherto, especially in the Antarctic where the Treaty System provides potential safeguards. Management plans based on rational decision-making, and incorporating environmental safety measures, are needed to ensure that all further development of renewable natural resources, at either end of the earth, is conducted on a sustainable basis, and that all development proceeds with minimal environmental disturbance.