Only very sketchy details are included here - enough, hopefully, to enable you to decide whether you want to seek further information from the tour operators. I endeavour to include latest information, but if it is out-of-date please contact the tour operator. Tour operators are requested to send in details of their tours promptly for inclusion on this page.

This page gives details about Arcturus Expeditions, Baikal Watch, Dersu Uzala, Ecologia Trust, Ecological Travels Centre, Greentours, Ibisbill Tours, International Arctic Expedition, Naturetrek, Rufus Reade Tours, Russian Nature Tours, Tien-Shan Astronomical Observatory, The Travelling Naturalist, and Wildlife Travel

ARCTURUS/FAR FRONTIERS TRAVEL

Ninestone, South Zeal, OKEHAMPTON EX20 2PZ, United Kingdom tel./fax (+44) 01837 840640 e-mail fiona@arcturusexpeditions.co.uk website www.arcturusexpeditions.co.uk

Arcturus is now the polar arm of Far Frontiers Travel.

Solovetski Islands (snow shoes & cross-country ski-ing in winter, walking & boating in the summer; staying in guest house): 16 days (recommended), February and June 2009.

Kamchatka in late summer (bears, volcanoes, native people, reindeer herders, autumn colours): 28th August - 15 September 2009. £4,295 per person. Leader: Dr Lorraine Craig.

BAIKAL WATCH

c/o Earth Island Institute, 300 Broadway, Suite 28, San Francisco, CA 94133 tel. 1- 415-788-3666 e-mail baikalwatch@earthisland.org or baikalwatch@igc.apc.org website www.earthisland.org/project/viewProject.cfm?subSiteID=1

Baikal Watch is a program run by the Earth Island Institute, involving ecotourism and volunteering (helping build the Great Baikal Trail) in the Lake Baykal area.

'DERSU UZALA' Ecotourism Development Fund

35 Staromonetny Pereulok, Moscow 109017 tel./fax (095) 112-91-33 or 230-84-49 e-mail elenik@deol.ru or dersu@orc.ru website www.ecotours.ru

This NGO is named after the main character in the eponymous book by Vladimir Arsen'ev, who was himself an early explorer of the Sikhote-Alin' Mountains and other parts of the Russian Far East bordering the Pacific Ocean. Information about Arsen'ev will be found in RNP's book Amur Tiger.

'Dersu Uzala' was established with assistance from USAID, WWF, IUCN (Russian branch), & Citizens Democracy Corps. Environmentally responsible natural-history tours are offered in Kamchatka, Far East (Ussuriland, Amurland), Lake Baykal, Taymyr Peninsula and other parts of the Far North, Sayan Mountains, and Altay Mountains.

ECOLOGIA TRUST

The Park, Forres, Moray IV36 0TZ tel./fax 01309 690995 e-mail ecoliza@rmplc.co.uk website http://atschool.eduweb.co.uk/ecoliza

A students' research camp is organised with the Urals Institute of Ecology in Ekaterinburg; intended for British and American students of ecology; topics on offer in 1997 included small mammals, fish & water pollution, amphibians, geo- botany and lichenology; also archaeology and palaeontology. (July-August.)
No recent information received.

ECOLOGICAL TRAVELS CENTRE (ETC)

E.T.C., korp.1 r.127, Scientific Park, Moscow State University, Vorobyovy gory, 119899 Moscow tel.(095) 939-22-89 fax (095) 932-91-95 e-mail etc@rc.msu.ru

For a number of years individual institutes and protected areas acted independently in attracting foreign visitors and expedition participants. Then in 1997 ETC was set up at Moscow State University, with a staff of ecologists from Moscow University, the Academy of Sciences, and other organisations. Its main aims are: (a) to promote this kind of tourism in Russia, especially to protected areas; and (b) to improve contacts between the Russian protected areas, and between them and foreign universities and foreign and international conservation, research and tourism organisations.

Visits arranged include student field-work visits at field stations, some in protected areas. In the past, students from Warsaw, Münster and Würzburg universities have worked at the Yenisey Biological Station; from Bonn and Köln universities at the Okski and Nizhne-Svirski zapovedniks; from the University of Aberdeen in the Kenozerski National Park; and from the University of Plymouth at the Central Chernozem Zapovednik.

Scientists interested in biodiversity, landscapes and ecologically damaged sites can also be catered for, as can birdwatchers. As well as protected areas, destinations can include other remote areas, to which more serious expeditions can be organised.

GREENTOURS

Leigh Cottage, Gauledge Lane, Longnor, Buxton, Derbyshire, SK17 0PA tel./fax 01298 83563 e-mail enquiries@greentours.co.uk website www.greentours.co.uk

Tien Shan Mountains, Spring in Heaven (Kazakhstan, based on Aksu-Jabagly Reserve, but also taking in sites around Almaty; for bulbs and other spring flowers, also mammals, birds, landscapes): 12-25th April 2008.

Tien Shan Mountains, The Mountains of Heaven (Kazakhstan, based on Aksu-Jabagly Reserve, but also taking in the Karatau Mountains, Koksai Gorge, and sites around Almaty; alpine flowers, mammals, birds, reptiles, butterflies,landscapes): 5-21st June 2008.

Altai Mountains, Central Asia's Golden Mountains (for flowers, birds, butterflies, mammals, reptiles, landscapes): 25th June - 10th July 2007.

The 'Dzhungarian Gate' (eastern Kazakhstan, including Zaissan Desert, Tarbagaty Mountains, past Alakol Lake, Dzhungarian Alatau, Moyyn Kum Desert, Almaty; camping; led by Vladimir Kolbintsev and Chris Gardener): 12-27th July 2007.

Estonia, a Baltic Pearl (for butterflies, flowers, birds and mammals in a variety of reserves and national parks): 6th - 16th July 2008.

The principal leader in Kazakhstan is Vladimir Kolbintsev, an expert local naturalist and 'all round nice guy'.

IBISBILL TOURS

7 Holders Hill Gardens, London NW4 1NP tel./fax 020-8203-4317 e-mail ibisbil@aol.com & ibisbill@talk21.com

Algirdas Knystautas no longer confines his attention to the former Soviet Union, as in the days of his Russian Nature Tours, but now offers, through Ibisbill Tours, ornithological trips to other exotic parts of the world as well. No recent information received.

INTERNATIONAL ARCTIC EXPEDITION (IAE)

Institute of Geography (Russian Academy of Sciences), Staromonetny 29, 109017 Moscow contact: Evgeny Syroechkovski jr. tel./fax (095) 246-71-54 e-mail ees@gcnet.ru

Formerly attached to the Institute of Ecology & Evolution in Moscow, IAE is now led by a group of professional field biologists from different state organisations and NGOs, and by 2005 had 18 years of experience in organising expeditions to different parts of the Russian Arctic and taiga, in particular Taymyr, Yakutia, Barents Sea coasts, Central Siberia and Chukotka. Since 1989 about 140 professional scientists and amateur naturalists from 15 countries have participated in 37 expeditions lasting from 2 weeks to 3 months. 3-4 expeditions are now being organised each summer. Activities mostly concentrate on ornithology, but studies have also been carried out on plants, mammals and insects as well as local indigenous peoples and their traditional knowledge of nature. NGOs involved have included WWF, Birdlife International, Wetlands International, and others in Europe, South Africa, Australia and the USA. Contact Evgeny for further information.

NATURETREK

Cheriton Mill, Cheriton, Alresford, Hants. SO24 0NG, UK tel. 01962 733051 fax 01962 736426 e-mail info@naturetrek.co.uk website www.naturetrek.co.uk

'Belarus in Spring' (birds and general natural history of the primeval oak forests and wetlands of the Pripyatski Reserve): 26th April - 3rd May 2009.

‘Tulip meadows of Kazakhstan & the Tien Shan Mountains' (steppe & mountain flowers, with special emphasis on tulips): 11th - 26th April 2009.

‘The Tien Shan Mountains & Deserts of Kazakhstan' (birds of steppe, desert, lake and mountain, including Aksu-Jabagly Reserve): 25th April - 10th May 2009.

'Alpine Flowers of the Tien Shan' (based at the Aksu-Jabagly Reserve at the west end of the mountain chain, and mountains near Almaty): 20th June - 2nd July 2009.

Also 9-day birding tours to Kazakhstan (deserts, steppes, lakes and Tien Shan Mountains): 7th - 15th May and 15th - 23rd May 2009.

'Kamchatka: a Voyage around the Ring of Fire ' (seabird colonies & volcanic scenery of Kamchatka and the Kurile & Komandor Islands, including 12-night cruise terminating in Sakhalin): 3rd - 19th June 2009.

RUFUS READE TOURS

21 St Leonard's Lane, Edinburgh EH8 9SH, UK tel. 0131 662 1612 fax 0131 667 6107 e-mail nomadstent@tiscali.co.uk

'Georgia: wild flowers, medieval churches & remote valleys' (flowers and history; led by Dr Crinan Alexander of the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh, in assocation with Connoisseur Travel Ltd): 7th - 22nd June 2005.

RUSSIAN NATURE TOURS

This pioneering venture, set up by Dr Algirdas Knystautas (see Ibisbill Tours) no longer operates under this name.

TIEN-SHAN ASTRONOMICAL OBSERVATORY

Astrophysical Institute, Almaty, Kazakstan 480068 tel. 7 (3272) 636 634 or 636 973 fax 7 (3272) 631 207 box 157 e-mail kurt@tsao.south-capital.kz

For further information, see separate page: Tien-Shan Observatory

THE TRAVELLING NATURALIST

P.O.Box 3141, Dorchester, Dorset DT1 2XD, UK tel. 01305 267 994 fax 01305 265 506 e-mail jamie@naturalist.co.uk website www.naturalist.co.uk

'Finland and Russia' (birds; bears in Finland; beluga whales in the White Sea): 8th - 15th July 2007.

WILDLIFE TRAVEL

The Manor House, Broad Street, Great Cambourne, Cambridge CB3 6DH, UK tel. 01954 713575 e-mail wildlifetravel@wildlifebcnp.org website www.wildlife-travel.co.uk

'Ukraine' (natural history and culture, including Odessa, the Crimea and the Danube Delta): 19th May - 2nd June 2007.