Hallo,
how You get information about nature, if You travel abroad.
Books like lonely planet are more general, good for backpackers which looks for country and people. But for nature it is not useful.
In Germany we have only one person You launched good trekking guides for traveleing outside Europe ( only few countries ). He was a mountain climber. So he is able to create his on maps very detailed and reliable. The description contained the landscape like bush, grassland, primeray forest and so on. So is interesting for nature people which also like to see plants and different animals.
In Australia is very common the ranger system. The ranger are responsible for national parcs. They make information meetings and give very detailed informations about the areas.
Are there good reliable english books for nature travelers ?
Where is possible to get reliable informations ?
Well for starters you could try some investigative googling work.
For parts of Central and South America, Les Beletsky has done various ecotravel guides.
I will tell you an example about my trip to India.
- google for general idea what is to see.
- read birding trip reports (eg. eurobirding).
- worldtwitch site is the best for odd places.
- Buy revelant birding guidebook which usually have title "Where to watch birds in.. or "A birdwatchers guide to...". They often mention other wildlife, too. Also, Lonely Planet often mentions wildlife and details of major national parks.
- subscribe birding mailing list for the area and listen to what people report to see. You can also ask questions there and with luck and asking a very specific question, some people will even answer :>.
- Try to contact local enthusiasts or NGOs.
- and when abroad TALK to other birders, guides and local naturalists! This is very important. You learn what animals just appeared there. You learn about great places apparently unknown outside the country. If you can change your plans, you will win.