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| To 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 fine-tuned 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 website 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
Gardner is 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 www.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. Twenty-four Greentours
groups have already visited the stunning Tien Shan Mountains
and Vladimir has co-led all of them, and 2007 will see his 8th
& 9th tours to the wonderful Altai Mountains.
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Paul
Cardy is that rare species among naturalists in the post-Victorian
era - an all-rounder of great ability, and 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 will, during this coming year,
have led his one-hundredth Greentour. 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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Owen
Mountford directs wetland ecology research at the Monk’s
Wood Centre for Ecology and Hydrology and is an outstanding
field botanist. Besides having an extraordinary botanical knowledge,
Owen’s enthusiasm and sociability make him an excellent
holiday leader. His interests and knowledge extends to all aspects
of natural history. Those on the Turkish Lake District Holiday
will soon find that Owen’s knowledge of the Turkish flora
is exceptional - whether it be one of the many bulbs or a strange
aristolochia that you’re looking at.
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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! His recently published “Butterflies
of Europe - A new field guide and key” has received wide
acclaim and is set to become very popular as it breaks new ground
with identification tips. It’s not just butterflies though
- Tristan is also an able birdwatcher and very good botanist
- and he speaks fluent English, Italian and increasingly good
Greek! His mild-mannered and easy-going style will feature on
plenty of tours during 2007 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 hhas recently moved to Rome from Piemonte (north-west
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
Cottian 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 writer, researcher and tour leader. 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 a recent conversion to butterflies
means he has the perfect excuse to go to them all again!
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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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