David J. Bellamy OBE (born 1933) is an English professor, botanist, author, broadcaster and environmental campaigner.

He attended Sutton County Grammar School, Sutton, Chelsea College of Science and Technology and Bedford College, all in London.

He was brought up as a strict Baptist.

Bellamy and his wife Rosemary, whom he married when he was 19, have five children - four are adopted.

He originally trained as a botanist at Durham University, where he later held the post of senior lecturer in botany until 1982, and still holds the post of Honorary Professor for Adult and Continuing Education.

He first came to public prominence as an environmental consultant at the time of the Torrey Canyon disaster.

In 1983, he was jailed for blockading the Franklin River in protest at a proposed dam.

He has been the writer and presenter of some 400 television programmes on Botany, Ecology and environmental issues.

In 1997, he stood against John Major for the anti-European Referendum party .

In 2004, Bellamy wrote an article in the Daily Mail in which he described the theory of man-made global warming as "poppycock".

He is Britain's most prominent campaigner against the desecration of wilderness areas by wind farms.

He is the originator along, with David Shreeve and The Conservation Foundation (which he also founded), of the Ford European Conservation Awards and has published over 80 scientific papers.

Recognition

Belamy also holds or has held these positions:

• Professor of Adult and Continuing Education, University of Durham.
• Hon. Prof. University of Central Queensland , Faculty of Engineering and Physical Systems
• Special Professor of Botany, (Geography), University of Nottingham.
• President of:
  • The Conservation Foundation
  • The Wildlife Trusts partnership
  • Population Concern
  • Plantlife
  • WATCH
  • Coral Cay Conservation
  • National Association for Environmental Education
  • British Naturalists Association
  • Galapagos Conservation Trust
  • British Institute of Cleaning Science
• Vice President:
  • BTCV
  • Fauna and Flora International
  • Marine Conservation Society
  • Australian Marine Conservation Society
• Trustee of the Living Landscape Trust
• Hon Fellow Chartered Institute of Water and Environmental Management
• Chair of the international committee for the Tourism for Tomorrow Awards.

Recipient of:

• The Dutch Order of the Golden Ark
• the U.N.E.P. Global 500 Award
• The Duke of Edinburgh's Award for Underwater Research
• BAFTA, Richard Dimbleby Award
• BSAC Diver of The Year Award

Bibiography

Bellamy has authored at least 45 books:

• Bellamy on Botany (1972) ISBN 0563106662 (A short and accessible introduction to botany)
• Peatlands (1973)
• Bellamy's Britain (1974)
• Life Giving Sea (1975)
• Green Worlds (1975)
• The World of Plants (1975)
• It's Life (1976)
• Bellamy's Europe (1976)
• Botanic Action (1978)
• Botanic Man (1978)
• Half of Paradise (1978)
• Forces of Life (1979)
• Bellamy's Backyard Safari (1981)
• The Great Seasons (with Sheila Mackie, illustrator; Hodder & Stoughton , 1981)
• Il Libro Verde (1981)
• The Mouse Book (1983)
• Bellamy's New World (1983)
• The Queen's Hidden Garden (1984)
• I Spy (1985)
• Bellamy's Ireland (1986)
• Turning The Tide (1986)
• Bellamy's Changing Countryside (1987)
• England's Last Wilderness (1989)
• England's Lost Wilderness (1990)
• Wildernes Britain (1990)
• How Green Are You? (1991)
• Tomorrow's Earth (1991)
• World Medicine: Plants, Patients and People (1992)
• Blooming Bellamy (1993)
• Trees of the World (1993)
• The Bellamy Herbal(2003)
• Golly Green Giant (autobiography, 2002, Century, ISBN 0712683593)
• A Natural Life (autobiography, 2002, Arrow, ISBN 0-09-941496-1)

Discovering the Countryside with David Bellamy

Bellamy was "consultant editor and contributor" for this series, published by Hamlyn in conjunction with the Royal Society for Nature Conservation :

• Coastal Walks (1982; ISBN 0600355882)
• Woodland Walks (1982; ISBN 0600356582)
• Waterside Walks (1983; ISBN 0600356361)
• Grassland Walks (1983; ISBN 060035637X)

External links

• David Bellamy Conservation Awards
• A Guardian Newspaper Interview with David Bellamy
• Correspondence between David Bellamy and George Monbiot