João Jara
João was born in Lisbon and studied Biology at the Faculdade de Ciências de Lisboa, from where he developed his professional career in the pharmaceutical industry, as senior manager and director of various multinational companies. With some 40 years of field experience, he has an intimate knowledge of the birds and birding in Portugal. He has travelled extensively in Europe, Africa, Asia and the Americas with birding as the main objective. João was a member of the national board of SPEA (BirdlLife International partner in Portugal) and was a voting member of the Portuguese Rarities Committee from 2005 until 2011 and chairman of the committee from 2007 until 2011. Author and co-author of articles about birds, João is also co-author of the book Where to Watch Birds in Southern Portugal. In 2008, he launched the first Portuguese company totally dedicated to the organization of birdwatching tours, Birds & Nature Tours Portugal, which he manages and guides many of its tours, as well as presenting bird identification courses. Besides birds, he has an active special interest in amphibians, reptiles and fish.