Chris Chadwell

CHRIS CHADWELL - freelance botanist, lecturer, educator, photographer, leader of 24 expeditions along the Himalaya, anachronism & GENUINE conservationist; his hard-won expertise (where he has risked health, life & limb) on the flora of the NW Himalaya & borderlands of Western Tibet, built up over 40 years, is unrivalled, yet, sadly, largely going to waste - he is in the unenviable position of feeling he must tell the truth, whilst the world's major botanical institutions sit by.

There is no reward in this world for being either a good Samaritan or man of honour.

Plants cannot be conserved in the wild (or cultivation for that matter), if they are not correctly identified in the first place, with abundance or rarity, reliably recorded (which is not happening: rubbish is being put into data-bases/computers, so rubbish comes out; it is impossible to discover whether a species is rare or abundant, sat in an office/herbarium or by copying century-old records, which is a widespread practise in the Indian sub-continent, resulting in unreliable floras! Fake claims of rarity or being 'critically' Endangered are submitted, when they are no such thing!). Very few botanists or so-called 'naturalists' in the Indian sub-continent know how to reliably and accurately identify plants. One can only assess genuine rarity if extensive surveys are undertaken by competent field botanists, operating in the wilds - typical 'surveys' by university & Botanical Survey of India botanists consist of surveying road/track-side plants on flat ground just metres from a jeep, with the poor quality, scrappy specimens actually collected by an un-trained assistants, with virtually no field notes. They cannot possibly tell what is genuinely rare if the do not trek extensively and scramble up and over steep terrain (which they do not) - the Himalaya is a vast expanse; surveying methodically & reliably at higher altitude, is demanding.

Regrettably, I must observe that both efloraofIndia and iNaturalist contain a significant proportion of misidentifications, certainly as far as 'Himalayan' plants are concerned - the 'algorithm' in the latter is strongly 'North American'-biased, with numerous 'naturalists' from around the world, blindly using it, resulting in laughable suggestions, then any two observations resulting in supposedly 'research' grade identifications - they are no such thing. As for efloraofIndia - so-called experts. who are not, attack and belittle Chris for telling the truth and thus 'showing them up'....

e-mail: chrischadwell261@btinternet.com Look into Chris' eyes - is he a liar or telling the truth?

Chris beside a highly ornamental Salvia in the North-West Himalaya. © Chris Chadwell

'The White Mountain' (Dhaulagiri), Mustang Himalaya, Nepal © Chris Chadwell

'West Himalayan Blue-poppy' (Meconopsis aculeata) in the NW Himalaya © Chris Chadwell

Chris engaged with a conversation about Tibetan Medicinal Plants with a lama (Buddhist monk) © Chris Chadwell

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Chris places truth and accuracy first, being unconventional, with a mind-of-his own, essential if one is to speak up & out against serious wrong-doing, prepared to be an unpopular whistle-blower. Chris cares deeply about the flora, environment and peoples of the Himalaya and the rest of the world - he cannot ignore the corruption, idleness, incompetence, downright FAKE botany prevalent in India, in particular, which international bodies turn a blind eye to; whether printed checklists and floras or on-line data-bases, those for districts, regions or all of India, typically are riddled with errors/misidentifications, from 20-50%, which should be unacceptable but has been happening for decades. Indian botanists put quantity first not quality/reliability - university staff are judged by the number of articles and books they publish, even of awful standard published in laughable journals. Most people would be shocked at what really goes on - not that they could care less!

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Chris Chadwell with Lamas (Buddhist monks) at Lamayuru Gompa (Monastery) in 'Little Tibet'. © Chris Chadwell

Chris cares deeply about the flora, environment and peoples of the Himalaya (indeed the whole world's flora, people & environment) - he has been reluctant in the past to speak out but must state that the hill and mountain villagers along the Himalaya are being let down badly by their corrupt national and regional governments, officials, botanists, botanic gardens, institutions, in the Indian sub-continent and UK; famous figures shed only crocodile tears whilst extravagantly endorsing con-artists!

As for the BBC, they ignore these legitimate concerns, having resources to spend time falsely portraying Chris as some sort of villain! Why is that? Read the over-whelming evidence of serious wrong-doing contained in this web-site and judge for yourself. We stand no chance of saving the world's flora (and thus habitats and their fauna) if our scientists and senior figures cannot be trusted! YES, IT IS THAT BAD ..... Surely this cannot be true? Kindly take the time to read the evidence on this web-site. What purpose would be served by Chris not being accurate and truthful? As an Italian doctor in charge of 'The Cultivation of Medicinal Plants for Traditional Medicine Project' he worked on as a consultant to the Royal Government of Bhutan observed, "You know too much"; it pays to be informed ...

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EMPOWER THE PEOPLES OF THE HIMALAYA.....

THIS NEPALESE GIRL (LOOKING AFTER HER YOUNGER BROTHER) DESERVE A BETTER FUTURE - MANY DONATIONS HAVE BEEN WASTED, AS TOO MANY CHARITIES ARE FAKE AND MANY GOVERNMENTS AND THEIR OFFICIALS IN THE INDIAN SUB-CONTINENT CANNOT BE TRUSTED..... SO BE 'STREET-WISE' AND SUPPORT THE BEST CHARITIES AND PROJECTS WHICH, AS THE BRITAIN-NEPAL MEDICAL TRUST STATES, HELPS 'EMPOWER' THE PEOPLE OF NEPAL. ASK CHRIS TO RECOMMEND THE BEST CHARITIES, AS HE HAS BECOME STREET-WISE, THROUGH DECADES OF FIRST-HAND EXPERIENCE.

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WHAT IS THIS WEB-SITE REALLY ABOUT?

TRYING TO BRING OUT THE BEST IN PEOPLE.....

CHRIS IS 'A FRIEND OF THE PEOPLES OF THE HIMALAYA' AND THE WORLD'S FLORA. THEY BOTH NEED A VOICE. NATURE CONSERVATION REMAINS IN ITS INFANCY IN TOO MANY REGIONS OF THE WORLD. INTERNATIONAL CONSERVATION BODIES NEED TO MAKE IMPROVEMENTS IN THEIR APPROACH. BOTH LOCAL PEOPLE AND RARE FLORA ARE BEING "LET DOWN". THE PRESENT SITUATION IS UNSATISFACTORY AND CAN ONLY IMPROVE IF THIS IS FACED UP TO.... INTERNATIONAL PRESSURE NEEDS TO BE APPLIED. SHAME ON THOSE WHO IGNORE WHAT CHRIS IS DRAWING ATTENTION TO......

INCREDIBLE INDIA .......................

The admirable sentiments above of India's first prime minister after Independence in 1947, inscribed below his statue in Manali, Himachal Pradesh, Northern India. The world would be a better place if every nation and individual citizen in the world, adopted such a philosophy. How many Indian or foreign tourists passing by this statue, actually read it or appreciate the significance of the words? Chris is a FRIEND of India (consistent with drawing attention to wrong-doing in this country and bordering ones) and wishes to see India become MIGHTY as Nehru intended 70 years ago; Indians COULD become the envy of the world, IF they followed Nehru's advice ...

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PHOTOGRAPHS ON THIS WEB-SITE

COPYRIGHT ABUSE/STOLEN IMAGES - sadly, Chris is increasingly locating examples of his photographic images being used without permission or acknowledgement. So much for his innocent objective of 'sharing' knowledge! What a world of cheats, which include a UK charity (which also makes FALSE scientific claims), a North American commercial seller of seed and a Kashmir travel company; one of the culprits told Chris that they have seen his images "all over the place" - so much for his expectation of 'Gentlemanly behaviour" from others ...... Looks like he may be forced to water-mark his images in future.