Bert Axell

Herbert Ernest Axell MBE (1 July 1915 – 12 November 2001) was a British naturalist and conservationist who came to prominence through his wardenships and innovations at Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) reserves.

After taking medical retirement from the Post Office in 1952, he became the warden of the RSPB reserve at Dungeness, where he stayed until 1959.

He was appointed as warden of RSPB Minsmere in 1959, where he introduced major changes in reserve management, which were in due course also adopted elsewhere. He realised that ecological succession would eventually lead to the loss of important habitats, such as bare ground on the heaths or open water in the reed beds, unless natural plant colonisation was actively prevented. He created the "Scrape", an area with shallow water, islands and bare mud, by lowering land levels and managing the water level with new sluices. A circular path led around the scrape, giving access to hides on each of the four sides. He retired from that post in 1977.

Axell was consulted about improvements to reserves elsewhere, including major sites such as the Doñana National Park in Andalusia; he was involved in the creation of Hong Kong's Mai Po.

Bert Axell was appointed MBE in 1965.

Books