The activities of the Office are briefly described by the first 
five paragraphs of Article 2 of its By-laws: 
1. By centralizing, by classifying, by publishing and by distributing to

   governments, institutions and persons interested in nature protec- 
   tion, documents, legislative texts, scientific studies, information and

   data of any kind regarding nature protection and especially the 
   preservation of the fauna, flora and natural scenery in a primitive 
   state. 
2. By encouraging and facilitating international cooperation between 
   institutions and persons interested in the above-mentioned questions.

3. By making studies and technical investigations in the domain of 
   nature protection. 
4. By organizing the propaganda for nature protection especially from 
   an international standpoint. 
5. By working by any other legal means to attain its objective. 
   The library contains some 8,000 books and bound periodicals 
and 80,000 documents related to the following subjects, arranged 
according to country: 
   General data on nature protection - Nature protection legislation 
   for land, flora and fauna - National parks and reserves for flora, 
   fauna and geological features - General data concerning fauna 
   (mammals, birds, fishes and reptiles) and flora calling for protec- 
   tion - Ethnographic data about primitive tribes liable to disappear 
   - Nature protection and education - Nature protection from an 
   historical viewpoint. 
   Unfortunately the collection has not been systematically in- 
creased since 1940 owing to the interruption of the Office's work 
by the German invasion. The first task will be to bring the 
library up to date, which will necessitate re-establishing many 
old contacts and establishing new ones with institutions and 
bureaus of governments created since 1940. 
   The officers of the Office believe that again they may be able 
to secure the services of Mrs. Graim, who was the person chiefly 
responsible for creating the catalog of the library during its heyday. 
   Few people outside the personnel of the Office know the exact 
contents of its library and archives. According to Mr. Harold 
Coolidge the collection is "unique" and of very great scientific

importance. The Foundation's representative last summer made 
a cursory examination of it which appeared to bear out Mr. 
Coolidge's estimate. 
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