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have a really enjoyable holiday you need leaders who can combine
a variety of skills, and we consider this very carefully at
Greentours. Our leaders have been chosen for their ability to
have fun and socialise with a group as well as their wide-ranging
knowledge of wildlife, local expertise and dependability in
any situation. We have unearthed a small, dedicated band of
enthusiastic naturalists who have those qualities, and are sure
you will appreciate their experience, consideration and character
on your Greentours holiday. |
| Ian
Green is the founder
of Greentours and since graduating in Ecology, has led well
over one hundred and fifty holidays in various fields of natural
history, and has organised many, many more. This has taken him
to countries all over the world and has finetuned his knowledge
of what it takes to lead a successful holiday. Although most
holidays ‘pick’ their own leaders, Ian always has
the difficult job of admitting that he can’t lead all
Greentours’ holidays each year! An avid birdwatcher, keen
lepidopterist and with more than a passing interest in anything
furry, Ian’s interests and knowledge extend to most areas
of the natural world. A quick perusal of the following pages
will soon reveal that the mountains of the Middle-East and Central
Asia are strongly featured, areas that offer wonderful shows
of spring bulbs and alpine flowers in often wild and stunning
scenery, a combination that Ian finds irresistible! |
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Chris
Gardneris a plant-world all-rounder and top quality naturalist
to boot. He runs his own garden design business though spends
as much time as possible travelling all over the world. He has
been busy re-tracing the journeys undertaken by some of the
world’s great plant hunters, and has recently produced
an excellent book on the subject - ‘The Plant Hunters’
by Musgrave, Gardner & Musgrave. Chris is also a keen birdwatcher
and enjoys cooking, wine, and photography not necessarily in
that order! A very able leader, Chris seamlessly manages to
look after the day to day running of a tour while at the same
time finding and showing fauna and flora to the group with an
enthusiastic humour that we are sure you’ll enjoy. For
a look at images from many of Chris’s tours and other
worldwide destinations check out his photography website ww.glassfrogphoto.com
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| Vladimir
Kolbintsev is of Russian descent, but was born and raised
in Kazakhstan. Until recently a research scientist at the Aksu-Dzhabagly
nature reserve he has divided his time between studying reptiles,
and working on the various Red Data Book fauna and flora found
in the reserve. He has an extraordinary knowledge of all aspects
of the region’s natural history and has a particular love
of the wild valleys of the Karatau Mountains where he knows
exactly where to find even the rarest of tulips. Vladimir is
a big fan of early seventies rock and roll bands (but we don’t
hold it against him!), and is an all round nice guy who will
go to the ends of the Earth to ensure that we have an excellent
holiday in his company. Thirty-two Greentours groups have now
visited Kazakhstan’s fabulous mountains, all of them co-led
by Vladimir! |
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Paul
Cardy is that rare species among naturalists in the post-
Victorian era - an all-rounder of great ability, and he combines
this with a truly encyclopaedic knowledge of the history and
cultures of the countries concerned. Although his true forte
is Lepidoptera, Paul also rates as a top-notch birdwatcher and
botanist. One wonders how he manages to know so much about the
identification, habits and life-cycles of butterflies from all
over the world until he starts on the moths - where his extraordinary
level of knowledge will impress anyone! Paul has now travelled
to well over one hundred countries around the globe (he keeps
suggesting possible tours to tiny Pacific island countries that
we have to look up in an atlas!) and has now led more than one
hundred Greentours Holidays. His wonderful knack of observing
and communicating even the smallest details of local wildlife
will give you a truly educational experience. Paul also has
an abundance of that priceless quality in a tour leader - he
thoroughly enjoys company! |
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Adil
Güner has recently retired as Professor of Botany
at Ankara University in Turkey. His contribution to botany in
Turkey can be measured by the number of times his name appears
in the wonderful multi-volume Turkish Flora, and he has edited
the most recent volume. Currently designing and constructing
Turkey’s most ambitious botanical garden in Istanbul,
Adil, who is fluent in English, has discovered tour leading
with the enthusiasm of one discovering a new vocation - which
we think it will be for years to come! Adil’s contacts
throughout the Turkish University system have already, if you’ll
pardon the phrase, born abundant fruit as far as our holidays
are concerned. Adil is a tremendously genial guide and aside
from his botanical expertise his knowledge of his country’s
history and culture is first-rate.
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An
outstanding field botanist, Owen Mountford is
residing for much of this year in Bucharest, Romania, where
he is head of a team implementing the NATURA 2000 network. At
other times he directs the wetland ecology research at the Centre
for Ecology and Hydrology, now based in Wallingford. Besides
having an extraordinary botanical knowledge, Owen’s enthusiasm
and sociability make him an excellent tour leader. His interests
and knowledge extend to all aspects of the natural world. Owen
is instrumental in designing our Alpine Garden Society tour
to Romania in 2008, and he will also return for another foray
into the Canadian Backwoods, where he began making botanical
surveys for Parks Canada as a teenager, part of the basis for
last year’s successful tour.
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After working as a tour guide in the Alps and in the Middle-east,
and for five years as the conservation advisor for the French
Department of Lot, Tristan Lafranchis and his
young family emigrated to the Peloponnese in Greece, his favourite
wildlife region in Europe! Author of the beautifully illustrated
article “Northern Peloponnese Delights” in the June
2007 Alpine Gardener, and of the highly acclaimed “Butterflies
of Europe - A new field guide and key”, Tristan’s
knowledge of Greece’s wild places and in particular its
flowers and butterflies is second to none. Tristan is also an
able birdwatcher and keen herpetologist - and he speaks fluent
English, Italian and increasingly good Greek! His mildmannered
and easy-going style will feature on plenty of tours during
2008 and we are sure for years to come.
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Terry
Underhill will be a familiar face and voice to many of
you, as he produced and presented the regular weekly, half-hourly
gardening programme for Television South West, transmitted world-wide
between 1981 and 1991. In recent years, Terry has combined television
and radio work with journalism, lectures and tour leading, the
latter taking him to botanical hotspots around the globe. A
keen naturalist, a Master of Horticulture, and with a broad
knowledge of worldwide gardening and flora, Terry is a great
asset on our tours. He has even been known to ‘growl’
a folk song and dance a solo morris jig (but we’ll try
and stop him!). |
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| Stefano
Doglio has recently moved to Rome from Piemonte (northwest
Italy), but his wildlife interest and his work have him busy
on both shores of the Mediterranean. His many current projects
include surveys on Sardinian Brook Salamanders, Common Frogs
in the Alps, amphibian reproductive sites along the Po River,
and work on Erebia christi. His most ambitious project - a biodiversity
survey for the Italy-based Museum of Prehistoric Art to set
up a new National Park in Morocco’s Anti-Atlas. Stefano
speaks perfect English as well as fluent French and of course
Italian, all of which puts the rest of us in our places! He
will not only provide plenty of local wildlife knowledge on
our tours to various parts of Italy, Morocco, Greece and West
Africa, but will also enjoy giving a historical perspective
to the places we visit. |
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Having
worked at the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds as a
Wetlands Project Officer, Phil Benstead is
now a freelance and splits his time between writing, tour-leading
and raising children. He has worked as a warden on several RSPB
reserves including Balranald on the Outer Hebrides, as well
as undertaking survey work on globally endangered species such
as Brazilian Merganser and Western Tragopan. Having developed
an interest in wildlife at an early age in the Norfolk Broads,
Phil’s passion for birds, mammals and dragonflies has
taken him to many strange and wonderful corners of the globe
and he especially enjoys re-visiting old haunts.
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A
professional ecologist, Dr Martin Perrow runs
an ecological consultancy from the University of East Anglia
where he is also a senior research fellow - his work on a range
of species and habitats has resulted in many scientific publications
and the acclaimed two-volume Handbook on Ecological Restoration.
Martin is a keen and knowledgeable birdwatcher and photographer
and has travelled widely in Europe pursuing these interests.
He also directs and acts in a local theatre group and enjoys
a pint with a lively discussion on just about anything - so
you can see that tour-leading was a natural progression for
such a people-orientated naturalist.
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