Costa Rica is one of the world's top biodiversity hotspots. The key to the country's wildlife riches is its range of habitats, which is created by the spine of mountains running down its centre. This superbly illustrated book investigates the key habitats including rainforest, cloudforest & paramo, & showcases the diverse abundance of wildlife that they support. Wild Costa Rica explores the country's outstanding network of protected areas, including flagship wildlife-watching locations such as Monteverde, Volcan Irazu & Tapanti. It features exciting & spectacular species such as the Scarlet Macaw, Resplendent Quetzal, Three-toed Sloth, Tapir, Margay & Spider & Howler Monkeys. No less impressive are the myriad smaller mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, insects & plants. Illustrated throughout with more than 200 superb photographs, Wild Costa Rica is a celebration of, & a showcase for, the splendour & diversity of this small country's natural history. Written in an engaging, educational & thought-provoking style, it also describes the ongoing efforts to protect & nurture wildlife habitats & species. ...

In early 1978, an extraordinary new invention for rock climbers was featured on the BBC television science show Tomorrow`s World. It was called the ` Friend`, & it not only made the sport safer, it helped push the limits of the possible. The company that made them was called Wild Country, the brainchild of Mark Vallance. Within six months, Vallance was selling Friends in sixteen countries. Wild Country would go on to develop much of the gear that transformed climbing in the 1980s. Mark Vallance`s influence on the outdoor world extends far beyond the company he founded. He owned & opened the influential retailer Outside in the Peak District & was part of the team that built The Foundry, Sheffield`s premier climbing wall
- the first modern climbing gym in Britain. He worked for the Peak District National Park & served on its board. He even found time to climb eight-thous&-metre peaks & the Nose on El Capitan. Diagnosed with Parkinson`s disease in his mid fifties & robbed of his plans for retirement, Vallance found a new sense of purpose as a reforming president of the British Mountaineering Council. In Wild Country, Vallance traces his story, from childhood influences like Robin Hodgkin & Sir Jack Longl&, to two years in Antarctica, where he was base commander of the UK`s largest & most southerly scientific station at Halley Bay, before his fateful meeting with Ray Jardine, the man who invented Friends, in Yosemite. Trenchant, provocative & challenging, Wild Country is a remarkable personal story & a fresh perspective on the role of the outdoors in British life & the development of climbing in its most revolutionary phase.
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Here is plenty of inspiration for anyone who loves to ride off road & get out into the wild & stunning scenery of the British ...

As a photographer Beezer was in a unique position in Bristol in the 1980s. Close friends with the Wild Bunch (later to become Massive Attack) & other Bristol hip hop crews, he was able to capture on film the rich urban culture at the heart of the underground music & art scene prevalent in Bristol at the time. Many of the shots are of the Wild Bunch performing at the Dug Out Club, the infamous Red House Jam & at St Paul's Carnival, but there are many more shots from festivals & events & a selection of portraiture. This book has previously only been available as an import from Japan where it was originally published. ...

This book is now available as softback. As a photographer Beezer was in a unique position in Bristol in the 1980s. Close friends with the Wild Bunch (later to become Massive Attack) & other Bristol hip hop crews, he was able to capture on film the rich urban culture at the heart of the underground music & art scene prevalent in Bristol at the time. Many of the shots are of the Wild Bunch performing at the Dug Out Club, the infamous Red House Jam & at St Paul`s Carnival, but there are many more shots from festivals & events & a selection of portraiture. This book has previously only been available as an import from Japan where it was originally published. ...

Capturing the splendor & very soul of what remains wild & free in our world through incredibly intimate-close enough to touch-portraits, Wild Encounters chronicles legendary photographer David Yarrow`s photographic exploits in the field. Driven by a passion for sharing & preserving the Earth`s last great wild cultures & species, Yarrow is as much a conservationist as a photographer & artist. His work has transcended wildlife photography, & is now collected & shown as fine art in some of the most famed galleries around the world. Yarrow goes Pole-to-Pole, continent-to-continent- mountain to tundra to primordial jungle-inviting us to truly connect with a subject that we mistakenly think we have seen before. Yarrow takes the familiar- lions, elephants, tigers, polar bears-and makes them new again by creating iconic images that deliberately connect with us at a highly emotional level. ...

Combining witty comment with meticulous research abounding in historical & cultural detail, Jezernik reveals how from the mid 16th to the late 20th century ” The Balkans” have been perceived by west European travellers & experts, many of whom have seen it as part of Asia & sought accordingly to inform their contemporaries of its ”exotic”, ”outlandish” & ”primitive” ways. The rich source material

Includes:: citations from naturalists, geographers, historians & social scientists: from Joseph de Tournefort & Henry Blount via Karl Baedeker, William Gladstone & Paulina Irby, to Edith Durham, Rebecca West & Julia Kristeva. Exploring over 1000 first-hand reports & comparing narratives spanning almost five centuries, the author demonstrates how the project of observing other people in their environment mirrors the observers` own culture & environment. Thus the impressions passed down through the ages about the Balkans say more about Western Europe in most respects than about the lands & people in question.

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From the Mojave Desert in the USA to the Italian Dolomites, & from South Africa's Cape National Park to the Stirling Ranges of Australia, this book showcases the most spectacular displays of wild blooms on the planet. Each site account begins with a locator map & info panel detailing timing, key species, etc. This is followed by an informative & readable account by the expert author (who has personally visited nearly all of the sites covered) accompanied by a handful of stunning images of each location showing the displays of flowers. In addition there are chapters on the animal life that can be found at these sites, & on the conservation status of the locations covered in the book. Many people travel widely in search of spectacular displays of flowers, but are guided only by word-of-mouth information, or by what organised tours are available. This book sets out to rectify this gap. However, it aims to be much more: the most 'flowery' places in the world are exceptionally spectacular at their best, & the book will provide a visual feast for armchair naturalists as well as more active travellers. ...

The ideal portable companion, the world-renowned Collins Gem series returns with a fresh new look & updated material. This is the perfect pocket guide for nature enthusiasts keen to identify the wild flowers they might encounter on a walk along the coast or in the mountains, or a ramble through woodl&, fields or wetlands. Authoritative text, beautiful photographs & detailed illustrations show the parts of the flower, stem, leaf & fruit, including both common & scientific names of each wild flower. in addition, each entry features illustrations & description of appearance & colour, details on size, type of habitat, geographical range & flowering season, along with helpful information on herbal medicinal uses of each flower. ...

Discover the rich tapestry of wild flowers that is woven into the landscape of the British Isles with this handy new spotter's guide as your expert companion. Whether your trail begins just outside your front door or leads you through unspoilt countryside, turn to this reference book for on-the-spot identification & fascinating facts from the origins of names to preferred habitats. ...