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Tony Whitbread
ECOLOGIST, CONSERVATIONIST AND KNEPP WILDLAND FOUNDATION TRUSTEE
Tony Whitbread is a Trustee of the Knepp Wildland Foundation and a long term supporter of the Knepp Wildland project. Previously CEO of the Sussex Wildlife Trust and now its president, he is also a Trustee of the Western Sussex Rivers Trust and the Friends of the South Downs.
Tony took early retirement from the Sussex Wildlife Trust in 2018. During 27 years at the Trust he worked as Conservation Officer, Conservation Director and for the last 12 years, Chief Executive. He still keeps very active links with the Trust working as a volunteer for the conservation department and also works as a Woodland Advisor for the Wildlife Trusts nationally.
Being an early advocate of rewilding, his main interest is in landscape-scale conservation and the functioning of ecosystems. Tony has written articles and reports on natural processes since the great storm in 1987, for British Wildlife in 1997 and in numerous publications for the SWT. This has driven a strong natural partnership between the Trust and the Knepp rewilding project.
“Understanding natural processes is vital in helping us understand both how to manage nature and how to encourage nature to manage herself. Knepp is England’s prime lowland example of how to rebuild ecosystems at a landscape scale and it is a privilege to have such a leading project in Sussex –literally a short cycle-ride from my home!”
