Alan Miller, the Trust’s Sites Manager for the Suffolk Coast, retired this week after 40 years with Suffolk Wildlife Trust.

Alan started as volunteer warden for Hollesley Heath, a former Trust nature reserve. He first became a member of staff as the Trust’s warden for Sizewell Belts in 1993 where he led the restoration of wet marshes which had been left unmanaged for many years. Alan’s role developed as the Trust’s reserves grew – with the purchase of Dingle Marshes and the creation of Hen Reedbeds. This was a chance to create an entirely new wetland as an extension of a much smaller reserve. The success of Hen Reedbeds was striking – one year a muddy mess and the next one of the first newly created reedbeds to attract breeding bitterns – a species that was on the brink of being lost as a regular breeder in the UK in the late 1990s. Hen Reedbeds has since gone from strength to strength not just for bittern but for bearded tit, water rail and marsh harrier.

Alan’s experience came to the fore when the Trust was planning a 1,000 acre wetland at Carlton Marshes. With Matt Gooch, the Trust’s Broads Sites Manager,  Alan worked on plans to make this one of the best wetlands in Suffolk. Plans that have only just come to fruition. Alan’s experience with breeding waders has gone beyond Suffolk Wildlife Trust’s nature reserves and he built strong links by advising neighbours and landowners along the Suffolk Coast. Alan has remained incredibly active as a volunteer – as a founder member and former chairman of Suffolk Bat Group, the Suffolk Mammal Group and more locally with the Blyth Woods group.

Alan saw through huge changes in the scale and ambition of the Trust’s activities and many of the Trust’s reserves team started their careers being mentored and trained by him. In itself a tremendous legacy that he leaves the Trust with.