Among the many contributions made by John Hodgkiss to the local community over the last few decades has been his 17 years as Editor of the Memoirs of the Hong Kong Natural History Society. For the last 11 of those years, the Memoirs and Porcupine! have played complimentary roles in promoting interest in and understanding of the ecology and biodiversity of Hong Kong. While Porcupine! has published the news - new species, new sightings, new ideas, new threats, new people, new publications – the Memoirs has had a basically archival role, publishing mostly checklists and the results of local surveys and ecological studies. With John's retirement, I will be taking over from John as Editor and the Department will be assuming responsibility for publishing the journal. The details still need to be worked out, but the plan is to rename it or, rather, to revive an old name - The Hong Kong Naturalist - while retaining links to the Society. We also intend to launch an electronic version and to strength the sister (aunt?) relationship with Porcupine! Overall, however, the role will remain the same as it has always been: the publication of significant information on local natural history that would otherwise remain unpublished.

Richard Corlett

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