Fifty years of biological conservation

[Extract] Biological Conservationwas published for the first time in October 1968 and is now celebrating 50 years of contributions. Significant birthdays sometimes promote reflection on accomplishments and events leading up to them. Whilst fifty years makes the journal look like a mere stripling compared to Proceedings of the Royal Society (date of birth 1665) and a relative newcomer compared to the established ecology journals like Journal of Ecology (d.o.b.1913) and Ecology (d.o.b. 1920), Biological Conservation was a pioneer in the field of conservation biology. It was the first journal dedicated to conservation science as a whole and is characterised by the wide range of topics and sub-disciplines covered, as well as by the large number of papers published.