Guy Mountfort (4 December 1905 – 23 April 2003) was an

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

advertising Advertising is the practice and techniques employed to bring attention to a product or service. Advertising aims to put a product or service in the spotlight in hopes of drawing it attention from consumers. It is typically used to promote a ...

executive, amateur

ornithologist Ornithology is a branch of zoology that concerns the "methodological study and consequent knowledge of birds with all that relates to them." Several aspects of ornithology differ from related disciplines, due partly to the high visibility and th ...

and conservationist. He is known for writing the pioneering ''A Field Guide to the Birds of Britain and Europe'', published in 1954.

Biography

Born in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

, Mountfort was the writer of the 1954 ''A Field Guide to the Birds of Britain and Europe'', with illustrations by

Roger Tory Peterson Roger Tory Peterson (August 28, 1908 – July 28, 1996) was an American naturalist, ornithologist, illustrator and educator, and one of the founding inspirations for the 20th-century environmental movement. Background Peterson was born in Jam ...

and distribution maps by

Philip Hollom Philip Arthur Dominic Hollom (9 June 1912 – 20 June 2014) was a British ornithologist. Life He was born in Bickley, Kent, England,''Contemporary Authors.'' Volumes 15–16, Gale Research Company, Detroit, Michigan 1966, page 214 the second of fi ...

. The book was the first to provide a portable, accurate, illustrated guide to essentially all birds likely to be seen in Britain, and its design influenced all subsequent field guides. In 1961 he created the

World Wide Fund for Nature The World Wide Fund for Nature Inc. (WWF) is an international non-governmental organization founded in 1961 that works in the field of wilderness preservation and the reduction of human impact on the environment. It was formerly named the Wor ...

(back then the World Wildlife Fund) with

Victor Stolan Victor Stolan (born 1893) provided "the germ of the idea"Sir Arthur Norman (1981) The story of the World Wildlife Fund. Contemporary Review vol 239, 23-29. that led Julian Huxley and Max Nicholson with him to start the World Wildlife Fund. They to ...

Sir Julian Huxley Sir Julian Sorell Huxley (22 June 1887 – 14 February 1975) was an English evolutionary biologist, eugenicist, and internationalist. He was a proponent of natural selection, and a leading figure in the mid-twentieth century modern synthesis. ...

Sir Peter Scott Sir Peter Markham Scott, (14 September 1909 – 29 August 1989) was a British ornithologist, conservationist, painter, naval officer, broadcaster and sportsman. The only child of Antarctic explorer Robert Falcon Scott, he took an interest in ...

and

Max Nicholson Edward Max Nicholson (12 July 1904 – 26 April 2003) was a pioneering environmentalist, ornithologist and internationalist, and a founder of the World Wildlife Fund. Early life Max Nicholson, as he was known to all, was born in Kilternan, Ir ...

. In 1956 he led a n expedition to the Coto Donana with the resulting Book Portrait of a Wilderness illustrated by Eric Hosking. In 1963, he led a party of naturalists and including Huxley, George Shannon James Ferguson-Lees and

D. Ian M. Wallace Donald Ian Mackenzie Wallace (14 December 1933 – 4 November 2021), known as Ian Wallace, D.I.M. Wallace, or by his initials DIMW, was a British birder, author and artist. Early life Wallace was born on 14 December 1933 in Norfolk, England, ...

which made the first ornithological expedition to

Azraq Azraq ( ar, الأزرق meaning "blue") is a small town in Zarqa Governorate in central-eastern Jordan, east of Amman. The population of Azraq was 9,021 in 2004. The Muwaffaq Salti Air Base is located in Azraq. History Prehistory Archaeolo ...

in Jordan. The expedition's recommendations eventually led to the creation of the

Azraq Wetland Reserve The Azraq Wetland Reserve is a nature reserve located in the town of Azraq in the eastern desert of Jordan. An oasis for migratory birds, the reserve was established in 1978 and covers . The natural springs dried up in 1992 and most migratory bir ...

and other protected areas. Papers from the expedition are in the United Kingdom's National Archives. He was appointed an OBE in 1970, for services to ornithology. In 1972 he led the campaign to save the

Bengal tiger The Bengal tiger is a population of the ''Panthera tigris tigris'' subspecies. It ranks among the biggest wild cats alive today. It is considered to belong to the world's charismatic megafauna. The tiger is estimated to have been present in ...

, persuading

Indira Gandhi Indira Priyadarshini Gandhi (; Given name, ''née'' Nehru; 19 November 1917 – 31 October 1984) was an Indian politician and a central figure of the Indian National Congress. She was elected as third prime minister of India in 1966 ...

to create nine tiger reserves in

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

, with eight others in

Nepal Nepal (; ne, नेपाल ), formerly the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal ( ne, सङ्घीय लोकतान्त्रिक गणतन्त्र नेपाल ), is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is mai ...

and

Bangladesh Bangladesh (}, ), officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the eighth-most populous country in the world, with a population exceeding 165 million people in an area of . Bangladesh is among the mos ...

Bibliography

* ''The Hawfinch'' (1957)

New Naturalist Monograph The New Naturalist Library (also known as ''The New Naturalists'') is a series of books published by Collins in the United Kingdom, on a variety of natural history topics relevant to the British Isles. The aim of the series at the start was: "To ...

No.15.

Collins Collins may refer to: People Surname Given name * Collins O. Bright (1917–?), Sierra Leonean diplomat * Collins Chabane (1960–2015), South African Minister of Public Service and Administration * Collins Cheboi (born 1987), Kenyan middle- ...

: London. * ''Portrait of a Wilderness: The story of the Coto Doñana Expeditions'' (1958) Hutchinson: London. ** 2nd edition (1968)

David & Charles David & Charles Ltd is an English publishing company. It is the owner of the David & Charles imprint, which specialises in craft and lifestyle publishing. David and Charles Ltd acts as distributor for all David and Charles Ltd books and cont ...

: Newton Abbott. * ''Portrait of a River: the wildlife of the Danube from the Black Sea to Budapest'' (1962) Hutchinson: London. * ''Portrait of a Desert: the story of an expedition to Jordan'' (1965) Collins: London. * ''The Vanishing Jungle: the story of the World Wildlife Fund Expeditions to Pakistan'' (1969) Collins: London. * ''Tigers'' (1973) David & Charles: Newton Abbott. * ''So Small a World'' (1974) Hutchinson: London. * ''Back from the Brink – Successes in wildlife conservation'' (1978) Hutchinson: London. * ''Saving the Tiger'' (1981) Michael Joseph: London. * ''A field guide to the birds of Britain and Europe'' by Roger Peterson, Guy Mountfort, P.A.D. Hollom.

, 1954 ** 1965 edition: revised and enlarged in collaboration with I.J. Ferguson-Lees and D.I.M. Wallace ** 1971 impression: ** 2004 edition: ** With a

foreword A foreword is a (usually short) piece of writing, sometimes placed at the beginning of a book or other piece of literature. Typically written by someone other than the primary author of the work, it often tells of some interaction between the ...

** Dedicated: "For Anna, Paul, Oliver and Stephen, who one day will know why Grandpa thought the protection of wildlife so important for their future." *''Wild India – The Wildlife and Landscapes of India'' by Guy Mountfort, Hashim Tyabji and Gerald Cubitt, New Holland Publishers – 2007 – 3rd Edition:

References

External links

''Guardian'' obituary'' Guy Mountfort, Julian Huxley and others started WWF''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mountfort, Guy 1905 births 2003 deaths Scientists from London English ornithologists New Naturalist writers Officers of the Order of the British Empire 20th-century British zoologists