Keith Kirby

Dr Kirby has worked with the Government conservation service – the Nature Conservancy Council (1979–1991) and its successor bodies, including English Nature (1991–2006) and recently retired from Natural England (2006-2012). He was part of the secretariat supporting the Independent Panel on Forestry that was set up after the controversial proposals to sell of parts of the public forest estate in England. He was also awarded in 2012 the Royal Forestry Society (RFS) Gold Medal.

Over the years Dr Kirby has written and co-authored a number of authoritative books, journal articles and papers on all aspects of woodland ecosystems and on how they can be assessed and valued.