Adrian Darby

Adrian Marten George Darby was born on 25 September 1937. He is a British conservationist and academic with a career spanning various roles in education and environmental organizations.

He served as a fellow and tutor in economics at Keble College, University of Oxford, from 1963 to 1985. In 1978, he also held the position of visiting lecturer in environmental economics at the University of Pennsylvania.

Darby held several leadership positions in conservation organizations. He was the chairman of the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB), which is considered Europe's largest nature conservation organization, from 1986 to 1993. He subsequently became vice-president of the RSPB in 1996 and maintained that role from then onward. In 1989, he founded the Kemerton Conservation Trust.

He served as chairman of Plantlife International from 1994 to 2002 and was designated president of the organization starting from 2005. Additionally, he was chairman of Planta Europa between 1998 and 2004. In 1995, he became a trustee of the Herpetological Conservation Trust. From 1996 to 1999, he was the chairman of the UK Committee of the World Conservation Union (IUCN). Beginning in 1997, he sat on the board of the Farming and Rural Conservation Agency. He served as chairman of the Joint Nature Conservation Committee (JNCC) of the United Kingdom from 2004 to 2007.

In recognition of his contributions to conservation, Darby was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in 1996.

Apart from his professional roles, Darby has been active in voluntary and civic interests. He has served as a regional committee member of the National Trust, a governor of Eton College from 1979 to 1994, and a county committee member of the Country Landowners Association. Since 1998, he has also served as a Liberal Democrat councillor for Wychavon District Council in Worcestershire.

Darby's family background includes his father, Colonel Cyril Darby MC of Kemerton Court, and his mother, Monica Dunne, daughter of Marten Dunne, Member of Parliament for Gatley Park. He is married to Lady Meriel Darby, an acupuncturist and the daughter of former Prime Minister Alec Douglas-Home. They have two children: a son named Matthew and a daughter named Catherine.

References for this biography include Debrett's People of Today (2013). External links associated with Darby's career include interviews and official organizational websites, such as Plant Talk, the Joint Nature Conservation Committee, the RSPB, Plantlife, Planta Europa, Kemerton Conservation Trust, Wychavon District Council, and the Herpetological Conservation Trust.