Tony Juniper announced as new Wildlife Trusts President

It was announced today [23 December 2015] that campaigner, writer and environmentalist Tony Juniper will be joining the Wildlife Trusts as President.

Mr Juniper has been involved with the Wildlife Trusts for more than 30 years, starting his career in wildlife education in the mid-1980s with the Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire Wildlife Trust, through to his recent position as a trustee for The Wildlife Trust for Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Northamptonshire. He was the first recipient of the Wildlife Trusts' prestigious Charles Rothschild and Miriam Rothschild Medal, which recognises outstanding achievements in the promotion, study, management or conservation of the natural environment.

Tony Juniper (Photo: Eleanor Church, Wildlife Trusts).

For more than 25 years, Mr Juniper has worked for change towards a more sustainable society at local, national and international levels. He frequently lectures on environmental and sustainability matters. His book What Has Nature Ever Done For Us? quickly became a bestseller. A sequel, What Nature Does For Britain, was published in February 2015.

Commenting on the appointment, Mr Juniper said: "It is a huge honour and privilege to be declared as the new President of the Wildlife Trusts. This organisation is the very backbone of conservation in the UK and the work being undertaken right across the country, in the places where we all live, is vital in bringing huge benefits for people, nature and our economy. I am very much looking forward to adding what I can to the already huge impact of this amazing network."

He added: "The Wildlife Trusts are already working alongside thousands of people and having a huge positive impact on the environment. But it is time to step up the conservation game in the UK. We've lost far too much of our wild places and the job now must be to stop the decline of what is left and restore much of what has already gone. More ambition is needed from others, including our government, which in its election manifesto promised to lay the foundations for the restoration of nature in a generation. That is a bold and welcome goal and I'm looking forward to helping turn it into action."