Teresa Farino - Wildflowers, butterflies and moths and general natural history holidays in Spain and Portugal, in particular the Picos de Europa. Teresa is an all-round naturalist with a special interest in the flora and lepidoptera of the Iberian peninsula. She lives in the Picos de Europa and has been leading wildlife tours in Spain and Portugal since 1989. Teresa Farino's trips for 2008

Teresa Farino

I fell in love with the Picos de Europa, in northern Spain, during a university field trip in 1985, and promptly abandoned a career in nature conservation in Britain to eke out a precarious existence as an environmental journalist, just so that I could live in these magnificent mountains. In 1989, I started Heart-flowered Serapias
Serapias cordigera © Teresa Farino leading natural history tours to the region, in order to share the extraordinary wealth of wildlife to be found in the Picos de Europa with the rest of the world... and have been doing so ever since.

In the meantime, I grabbed every possible opportunity to explore the rest of the Iberian peninsula, marvelling at how one - relatively - small area could harbour so many different ecosystems, each home to a unique assemblage of plants and animals, as well as at the specific way of life selected by our Portuguese Squill
Scilla peruviana © Teresa Farino ancestors to exploit the resources of each in a traditional manner. I have written about these experiences in many books and articles concerned with the natural history of Spain and Portugal, culminating in Travellers' Nature Guides: Spain (co-authored with Mike Lockwood), which was published by Oxford University Press in 2004. This is perhaps the most comprehensive account of the prime Spanish wildlife destinations ever to appear in print, incorporating a wealth of detail about the flora and fauna of each.

Although I would probably describe myself as a botanist first and foremost, I am fascinated by all aspects of Iberian wildlife, and particularly passionate about wildflowers, butterflies and moths; since 1988 I have been compiling a database of the Lepidoptera of the Picos de Europa. Over the years I have also built up an extensive photographic library of the landscapes, flora and fauna of Spain and Portugal, with an emphasis on Mazarine Blues Cyaniris semiargus © Teresa Farino flowers and invertebrates; a few examples can be seen on these pages, with more on the Wild-Spain website.

In addition to contributing regularly to magazines such as BBC WILDLIFE and British Wildlife, as well as to most books currently in print which deal with Spanish wildlife, I have also written Landscapes of the Picos de Europa (1996/2002/2005) and - with Mike Lockwood Paeonia mascula © Teresa Farino - Landscapes of the Costa Brava (2003), both for Sunflower Books. These two books are walking guides with an added natural history element. Other books of a more general nature include The Living World (1989), Sharks - the ultimate predators (1990) and The Photographic Encyclopaedia of Wildflowers (1991), all for Colour Library Books, Godalming.

Over the years I have led wildlife holidays to many Spanish and Portuguese destinations apart from the Picos de Europa, including the Algarve, western Portugal, the Canary Islands, Extremadura, Grazalema, Almería, along the length of the River Ebro and the Spanish Pyrenees. In 2008 I will be organising and leading a series of wildlife tours in the Picos de Europa, focussing on general natural history, wildflowers and orchids, and butterflies and moths, as well as flora and fauna excursions to Western Portugal and the high limestone plateaux and gorges of Palencia, in northern Castilla-León. In addition, my fifth successive field meeting for the Botanical Society of the British Isles will this year be visiting the spectacular valley of Benasque, in the Aragonese Pyrenees. Details of these trips are given in the table below.

Teresa Farino - Trip Listing for 2008

Giant Peacock Moth Saturnia pyri © Teresa Farino Please click on the tour which interests you to go direct to the company's website, where you can find more details of what we might see, a provisional itinerary and, in the case of The Travelling Naturalist, detailed reports of past trips. Bookings should be made directly with the company in question, but please feel free to contact me if you have any questions.

I have also organised many private excursions over the years, with the emphasis on wildflowers, butterflies and moths, birdwatching and even Romanesque architecture. As such, I would be happy to discuss the possibility of designing a tour focused on your particular interests, so if the idea appeals to you, please get in touch.

Teresa Farino - Contact Details

Address:  Apartado de Correos 59 39570 Potes Cantabria Spain
E-mail:  teresa@iberianwildlife.com
Office:	(+34) 942 735154
Mobile:	(+34) 656 337129
			English Iris Iris latifolia		Female Capercaillie Tetrao urogallus cantabricus
			© Teresa Farino		© Teresa Farino