Niall Husbands has been appointed as Chair of Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust.
Voted in unanimously by Durrell’s Board of Trustees on 4 March, Niall (pictured) will replace Matthew Hatchwell who has undertaken this role since October 2023.
An Independent Director and Consultant with Altair Group, Niall has extensive international leadership experience having held numerous senior positions in wealth management and fiduciary services and as a board member. He has a passionate interest in biodiversity, and has volunteered with Durrell since 2020, initially assisting with treasury and investment matters prior to being co-opted to the Board of Trustees of Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust at the start of 2024.
Speaking about this appointment, Niall commented: “It truly is an incredible honour to be elected as the new Chair at Durrell. Durrell’s work across the world supporting communities to not only prevent extinctions but recover populations of threatened species and drive the rewilding of ecosystems is as important today as it has ever been. The rest of the Board of Trustees at Durrell and I are incredibly grateful for all that Matthew has done for us over the past 18 months in his role as Chair. We are very fortunate that someone with his vast conservation knowledge and experience has committed to remaining on the Board, whilst we work on assessing the impact of our Rewild our World strategy, as well as shape our new strategic goals and objectives for the next 10 years.”
Matthew Hatchwell was appointed as Chair at Durrell in October 2023. After 18 months as Chair during a very challenging period for the Trust and the Board, Matthew has decided to step down as Chair and refocus his time on his conservation consultancy work. Matthew will remain as a committed Trustee of both Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust and Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust Scotland, as well as sit on Durrell’s conservation and ethics committees.
Matthew commented about his time as Chair: “None of us knew when I took on the role as Chair what the next 18 months would hold. Although it was a very challenging time in many respects it was also immensely rewarding and a great privilege to lead the Board through that period. I was supported by an outstanding Interim and now permanent CEO, Rebecca Brewer, as well as an extremely capable Executive Leadership Team. I also had the support from the best Board of Trustees I’ve ever had the pleasure to work with. As a result of the trustee election last year, I see the Board being even stronger in the future and being just as dedicated in its support of Niall as the new Board chair as it was for me.”
