[E]nvironmental scientist and international conservationist Sir Martin Holdgate CB is helping to raise funds for Cumbrian charity, Friends of the Lake District, through his remarkable book of memoirs, ‘Penguins and Mandarins’.
Proceeds from the sale of the book, on sale via the charity, will be donated to help protect the landscapes of Cumbria that Sir Martin is so passionate about.
In Penguins and Mandarins, Sir Martin Holdgate recounts vividly his exploration in the remote areas of the Antarctic and the Sub-Antarctic with the world’s finest ecologists, and his time as Chief Biologist of the British Antarctic Survey. Later, he describes his time in Whitehall as Chief Scientist to the Department of Environment and with the United Nations Environment Programme.
Penguins and Mandarins is a unique account of exploration, conservation and environmental politics in the latter half of the twentieth century.
Douglas Chalmers, Chief Executive of Friends of the Lake District said, “Penguins and Mandarins is a really fascinating read; a unique mixture of accounts of exploration, conservation and environmental politics. We are extremely grateful to Sir Martin for making this donation and sincerely value all his knowledge and experience as he guides and supports Friends of the Lake District in other areas of our work.”
Sir Martin was Chief Scientist of the Department of the Environment and Director General of IUCN, the World Conservation Union. A biologist by profession, with a doctorate in insect physiology from Cambridge, he taught for 10 years at Manchester, Durham and Cambridge universities – while undertaking expeditions to the remote Tristan da Cunha islands in the South Atlantic, the far south of Chile and the Antarctic where he served as Chief Biologist of the British Antarctic Survey. He is now retired and President of Friends of the Lake District.
The book can be ordered from Friends of the Lake District office by calling 01539 720788 or online at https://www.friendsofthelakedistrict.org.uk/shop/penguins-and-mandarins.
