Sir — As government budgets for conser-vation in protected areas decline, there isincreasing need for other mechanisms tofund conservation efforts: for example,private-sector involvement. Tourism haslong been viewed as a potentially benignsource of funding for protected areas, butrelatively few sites worldwide have so farbeen able to generate significant resources.Even where they have, sustainable conser-vation will result only if the revenuesgenerated are properly managed andallocated.

A case in point is the Masai MaraNational Reserve in Kenya, world famousfor its huge density and diversity of wildlifeand an annual migration of more than amillion wildebeest. Visitor entrance feesalone could generate $US5.5 millionannually for conservation andsurrounding community development.This equates to earnings of over $3,500 persquare kilometre, some 12 times morethan the estimated requirement foreffective management1.

To date, little revenue has beencollected by the local councils overseeingthe reserve, and very little has beenreinvested. This all appears set to change asthe Trans Mara County Council has justcontracted the Mara Conservancy, a

Kenya-based private consortium, tomanage its portion of the reserve,including ticketing, revenue collection,tourism management, security andwildlife conservation. In its first few weeksof operation in June and July, the MaraConservancy generated more than fivetimes the amount previously collected bythe council over a whole year, as well asattracting additional donor funding2.Already new security and managementequipment has been purchased and staffare being paid on time.

Such a dramatic turnaround bodes wellfor a reserve that has suffered fromuncontrolled and unmanaged tourismimpact, and which has witnessed consid-erable declines in many of its wildlifespecies3. Moreover, this example couldhave far-reaching consequences for bothwildlife and local Maasai communities.Much of the Masai Mara’s wildlife isseasonally reliant on dispersal areasoutside the reserve, which results inconsiderable conflict between people andwildlife. Local communities are entitled toreceive 19% of reserve revenues ascompensation, but have received little orno money since the mid-1990s. Theturnaround in financial management inTrans Mara suggests that these

communities could soon see the benefitsthey are due, which should be equivalentto at least $1 million around the wholereserve.

However, as revealed at workshopssupported by the United Kingdom’sDarwin Initiative, local residents remain suspicious of this new, privatemanagement structure, which appears as yet another neo-colonialist plot toexpropriate their land. The onus is on the Mara Conservancy to ensure that benefits flow to neighbouringcommunities via the local council asrapidly as it is upgrading the resources of the reserve management itself.

If financial resources can be effectivelycaptured and appropriately deployed, thenreal conservation gains could be made,both inside and outside the reserve. TheMasai Mara could become a model fortourism-based, sustainable, integratedconservation and development throughpublic–private partnerships.M. J. Walpole & N. Leader-WilliamsDurrell Institute of Conservation and Ecology,University of Kent, Canterbury CT2 7NS, Kent, UK1. James, A. N., Gaston, K. J. & Balmford, A. Nature 401,

323–324 (1999).

2. Mbaria, J. East African 354, 8 (2001).

3. Ottichilo, W. K., de Leeuw, J. & Prins, H. H. T. African Journal of

Ecology 38, 202–216 (2000).

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Masai Mara tourism reveals partnership benefitsWise use of income could satisfy local communities while aiding conservation efforts.

Italian immunology wellbut hoping to do better Sir — I was delighted to read, in the sameissue, your News Feature on science in Italy(Nature 412, 264–265; 2001) and yourNaturejobs article on careers in clinicalimmunology (Naturejobs 19 July, 5; 2001).However, contrary to the statement inNaturejobs, clinical immunology andallergy is a medical specialism in Italy. There are 24 Italian universitypostgraduate training centres, acceptingabout 50 medical doctors a year whospecialize in allergy and clinicalimmunology after a four-year programme.In addition, there are about 40 PhDprogrammes in basic and clinicalimmunology.

Basic and clinical immunology isrelatively strong in Italian academicinstitutions. A recent survey of the productivity of Italian biochemicalresearch commissioned by the Researchand Education Ministry showed thatimmunological disciplines fare muchbetter than other biomedical sciences. And an analysis by the US Institute for

Scientific Information showed that 20% of the 100 most productive Italian investi-gators are either basic or clinicalimmunologists (Immunology Letters 73,S51, 2000).

I agree with your News Feature thatimmunology suffers from many of theproblems common to Italian biomedicalresearch: insufficient funding and littlecollaboration with industry. It is to be hoped that the new Research andEducation Minister, Letizia Moratti, will recognize the strategic importance of investment in science.Gianni MaronePresident of the Italian Society of Allergology andClinical Immunology (SIAIC) and of the ItalianFederation of Immunological Societies (IFIS),Clinical Immunology Division, University of NaplesFederico II, 80131 Naples, Italy

Postdocs in France needless red tape, more cash Sir — Having lived in France and workedat the Pasteur Institute for four years, Iagree with your editorial “Mixed fortunesin France” (Naturejobs 16 August, 3; 2001)

that, in general, there is no lack ofcandidates for postdoctoral positions in European (or North American)institutions. I also agree that the definition of a ‘quality’ candidate varies depending on a lab director’spriorities and vision.

Certain particularities of the Frenchsystem explain why some organizationsthere say they have difficulties attractingquality candidates. Funding for newlygraduated French PhDs makes it verydifficult for them to stay in France tocontinue their training. There are very few external postdoctoral funding sources, so unless candidates are admittedto permanent positions with the CNRS or INSERM they cannot be paid from alab’s operating budget (as is done in theUnited States and Canada). Hence, manyhigh-quality candidates are forced to leave France and continue their trainingelsewhere.

For foreign candidates, the situation inFrance is complicated. The lack ofdomestic funding for postdoc salariesmeans that most foreign candidates mustarrive with their own funding. Postdocsfrom other European countries have an

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easier time than those from elsewhere.Many of the former can obtain fundingfrom organizations in their homecountries or from other Europeancommunity sources, and immigrationissues are simplified.

For non-European citizens, however,the visa and immigration requirementsand procedures are complex. Manyinstitutions have little or no administrativestructure to help foreign candidatesnavigate the complicated rules andregulations. In this regard, things areslowly improving in some institutions,such as the Pasteur Institute, but not in others, such as the Ecole NormaleSupérieure, where candidates are left to their own devices.

The French government could greatlyimprove the pool of quality candidatesavailable to its research organizations by developing new sources of fundingavailable to all postdocs, and bysimplifying the administrative procedures for foreigners wishing to train in France.Andrew A. MunkNewVentures Bioconsulting, 1015 Strauss Street, Suite 201, Brossard, Québec J4X 1T2, Canada

Planned law could putGerman research at riskSir — The planned new university law in Germany (Hochschulrahmengesetz) is intended to make universities morecompetitive by abolishing the Habilitationrequirement, and by creating newpositions (Juniorprofessoren) to allowpeople to carry out independent researchbefore attaining a tenured position (seeNews Feature, pages 768–770).

We fully support these aims, and firmlybelieve that the establishment of manymore groups of independent younginvestigators is essential to making theGerman research system more flexible,attractive and productive. These groupscould be modelled on the US system’sassistant-professor grade, or on theindependent research groups which are already established at several German universities and Max Planck institutes.

But the new law contains strict timeconstraints that severely undermine thecompetitiveness of German research, atleast in the area of life sciences. We stronglybelieve this law must be changed before itgoes through parliament.

The intention is that there will be nomore than six years between the diploma(the examination required beforebeginning a PhD project) and the start of a

junior professorship, which itself is limitedto a maximum of six years. In a mannerthat may seem typically German, bothtime limits will be strictly enforced. After a transitional period, the completion of a period as Juniorprofessor will become the prerequisite for securing a regular,tenured position.

As a consequence, all PhD andpostdoctoral work will have to becompleted within only six years, which ismuch too short for many biomedical andother natural-science projects. It willbecome unrealistic to complete aninnovative PhD project and then move to a new lab for postdoctoral research. Up tonow, almost all postdocs working both inGermany and abroad have taken morethan six years to complete their work. Yetunder the new law, any scientist exceedingthe six-year limit will be excluded from apost as Juniorprofessor. Far from luringGerman postdocs working in foreigncountries back home, the new law willactually exacerbate the brain drain.

The time limit will effectively abolishthe current postdoctoral system inGermany. The prerequisite for a post asJuniorprofessor will be an excellent PhDthesis, with no requirement for additionalscientific work.

This regulation will increase thedependence of PhD students on theiradvisers, a dependency that may be evenworse than that experienced by moresenior scientists doing their Habilitation(which the new law is intended tomitigate) and will render everyone’ssubsequent academic career contingent onthe initial stage of their scientific activity.Almost all Juniorprofessoren will lack theinvaluable experience of having doneresearch in more than one lab (withinGermany or abroad) before starting theirown group, and will be less inclined tochange research topics.

In sum, the strict adherence to this six-year rule will not only deprive Germanresearch labs of postdocs and exacerbatethe brain drain, but will result in poorlyqualified academics, lacking the valuableexperience of having worked in differentlaboratories or on different subjects.Moreover, the emphasis on time, ratherthan quality, will encourage researchprojects that are safe and dull, rather thaninnovative yet risky.

More than 1,000 scientists (Professoren,group leaders, postdocs and students)support the views expressed here; theirnames and addresses are listed atwww.zmnh.uni-hamburg.de/jentsch/unterschriften.Thomas JentschValentin Stein Zentrum für MolekulareNeurobiologie, University of Hamburg, Falkenried 94, D-20246 Hamburg, Germany

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Hunger added an edge toVincent’s sharp witSir — Glancing through old issues ofNature recently, I ran across theMillennium Essay “Sounds of Silence” by Robert C. Young (Nature 408, 141;2000). The picture of Skull with a BurningCigarette by Vincent van Gogh is striking. It is worth a comment, for van Gogh is arguably the artist whosepaintings are mostly easily recognized.Skull with a Burning Cigarette scarcely fits our preconceived notions of vanGogh’s work.

It was painted in the winter of1885–1886 in Antwerp, and the artist was “mocking the procedure in drawingclasses, where a skeleton invariably served as the basis of anatomical studies”(I. F. Walther and R. Metzger Vincent vanGogh, The Complete Paintings 217;Taschen; 1993).

The artist was objecting to thelifelessness of this procedure, the veryopposite of what he wished to bring out inhis paintings. The cigarette was added ashe had just taken up smoking to deadenthe hunger he felt so often. It has beensuggested that this painting may, in a sense, be regarded as Van Gogh’s firstself-portrait.Ajoy K. BaksiDepartment of Geology and Geophysics, Louisiana State University, E235 Howe RussellBuilding, LSU Baton Rouge, Louisiana 70803-4101, USA

Bacteria in biofilms areliving an unnatural lifeSir — Jean-Marc Ghigo in his interestingLetter (Nature 412, 442–445; 2001) states the oft-repeated canard that “mostnatural bacterial populations are foundassociated with environmental surfaces”.This is not true.

Bacteria are the most numerousorganisms in the biosphere. A quick lookat a sample from the oceans, the largesthabitat on Earth, would reveal individualbacterial cells (when stained for theirDNA) scattered across the darkened field,like stars on a clear night.

Of course there are bacteria in biofilms,but in the biosphere these are theexception rather than the rule. Their morenumerous free-living brethren may tell usmore about why these bacteria live in suchan unnatural state. David L. Kirchman College of Marine Studies, University of Delaware, 700 Pilottown Road, Lewes, Delaware 19958, USA

© 2001 Macmillan Magazines Ltd