The Wildlife Trust of South and West Wales (WTSWW) were saddened to learn that Mike Alexander died on Friday 7^th November 2025. 

Sarah Kessell, CEO of WTSWW, said: “Mike was an integral part of our Wildlife Trust for his whole career and through retirement up until the end of his life. His passion for wildlife manifested through science, writing, art, poetry and photography. And for me, and several others, he was an early career mentor and supporter as well as a friend. He will be missed by staff, Trustees and volunteers across the Trust. Our deepest sympathies are with his wife Rosanne.”

Mike started his career in conservation and his relationship with WTSWW in 1966 when he became the Assistant Warden on Skokholm Island. In 1976, he was appointed as Warden on Skomer, a dream he’d held since a school visit to the island. Together with wife Rosanne, he lived and worked on Skomer for over 10 years. 

After his stint on Skomer, Mike joined the Nature Conservancy Council - later known as Countryside Council for Wales (CCW), now Natural Resources Wales (NRW). He headed up the National Nature Reserve Management team until his retirement. 

Mike was influential in wildlife conservation in Wales, the UK and Europe. Along with colleagues, he developed the first computer-based habitat management planning system, used by a wide range of organisations including RSPB, The National Trust and Wildlife Trusts. This took him around the world, working on management plans firstly in Costa Rica on the Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve and on to India, Uganda, Tanzania, Latvia and Estonia. 

Closer to home, Mike worked to bridge the gap between conservation and farming, helping to set up PONT, the Welsh Grazing Animals Project, for which he was Chair until 2021. He also shared his knowledge, teaching at the University of London and Bangor University. 

In recognition of Mike’s work, he was made a Fellow of the Royal Society of Biology and of the Chartered Institute of Ecology and Environmental Management.

Mike maintained his involvement with WTSWW over the years, taking on much more work after his retirement from NRW. He wrote a comprehensive management plan for Skomer Island National Nature Reserve and subsequently published the book ‘Skomer Island: Its History and Natural History’. Mike was a Trustee from 2017 and Chair from 2021 to 2024, as well as chairing the Islands Conservation Advisory Committee. Using his decades of experience, Mike wrote the Trust’s current 10-year conservation strategy and developed a strategy for the Celtic Rainforest projects in North Pembrokeshire.

Sarah Kessell continued, “Mike will be missed by many, but his incredible legacy will live on. His work will continue to influence our approach to conservation and nature restoration in South and West Wales.”