The symposium on high salinity tolerant plants, held at the University of Al Ain in December 1990, dealt primarily with plants tolerating salinity levels exceeding that of ocean water and which at the same time are promising for utilization in agriculture or forestry. The papers of the proceedings of this symposium have been published in two volumes. This volume (1) deals with mangroves and inland high salinity tolerant plants and ecosystems and is divided into the following categories: 1. Vegetation analyses and descriptions of mangroves; 2. Ecosystem analyses; 3. Physiological analyses; 4. Utilization of mangroves and saltmarsh plants; 5. Soil and water analyses. Volume 2 deals with the improvement of salinity tolerance for traditional crops under marginal soils and irrigation water and is published in `Tasks for Vegetation Science' series (TAVS) Vol. 28.