Branding flagship areas is an expensive business, but it means that the money raised can be used to support a wide range of conservation projects.

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Big Flat sits in the middle of the Bureau of Land Management's 64, 000-acre King Range National Conservation Area, a patch of northern California so rugged that the engineers who built Highway 1, which hugs the coast from San Diego to Oregon, took the road 30 miles inland here to avoid it.

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And he claimed his government was "leading the way" on fish conservation with a range of ideas developed with fishermen and environmental groups.

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"The farm is likely to appeal to a wide range of prospective buyers from farming, conservation and lifestyle sectors of the market".

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It has also funded specific conservation projects for sites included in the inventory and a range of capacity-building activities.

UNESCO: OFFICE IN DHAKA

The problem has long been recognized, and the aforementioned Habitats Directive -- a corollary of the 1979 Bern Convention on the Conservation of European Wildlife and Natural Habitats -- introduced a range of measures aimed at protecting endangered species (including plants, birds and fish as well as mammals).

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By recognising and thus publicising individual sites, UNESCO and other cultural watchdogs risk harming the cause of conservation, which would be better served if visitors to the country were spread around a broader range of places.

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