Inspiring Andy ‘had green fire in his veins’

Dr Tasker, who died last week, was head of Warwickshire Wildlife Trust for 22 years. Internationally renowned for his work, he was not above throwing his family caravan and even his own garden lawn into the service of protecting wildlife.

Even after retiring due to ill health, he made national headlines with his ‘I hate daffodils’ campaign to stop planting ‘gaudy’ non-native commercial varieties in the countryside.

Fellow trustee John Roberts said: “The man had green fire in his veins.

“Despite all the challenging situations confronting wildlife, Andy remained permanently cheerful, calm, friendly and unflappable. He could physically lie down in front of earth-moving equipment destroying Bishop’s Hill, and just as easily debate with heads of industry, business and local government.

“He was equally splendid with the highest and the humblest, inspiring, impressing, charming and influencing everyone. He was brilliant with people and budgets, computers and strategies, lectures and running meetings, indeed almost everything.”

Dr Tasker was born in 1951 and grew up in Birmingham. Fascinated by nature, he studied biology at university, taking a PhD before becoming a teacher and in 1977 a senior lecturer in ecology and conservation at Coventry Polytechnic.

Moving to Harbury with his wife and two sons, he became a volunteer with Warwickshire Wildlife Trust, scrub-bashing at Ufton Fields and Harbury Spoilbank, where he became reserve warden for several years.

Defying arid titles such as conservation committee chairman and council chairman, he loaned his family caravan for use as an information and ‘tea and cake’ centre and dug up his lawn to exhibit at the trust’s wildlife gardening stand at the Royal Show.

During a sabbatical year in 1987 he swapped jobs with an American lecturer but returned to Warwickshire when the post of trust director was created in 1988, even though it meant sacrificing half his income. He held the post, which later became chief executive, for 22 years, only leaving after he fell ill.

Under Dr Tasker’s leadership the trust became the leading environmental charity in the county, establishing a headquarters at Brandon Marsh, while its Middlemarch Environmental consultancy became nationally respected.

Dr Tasker also worked as president of the Institute of Ecology and Environmental Management, the professional body for ecologists, for some years and initiated the GLOBE Programme for international environmental science and education, basing this at Brandon Marsh where he worked as UK director and co-ordinator for Europe and Asia.

After his cancer went into remission, Dr Tasker became GLOBE’s international director and moved to Colorado before returning to Birmingham in January for further treatment.

‘He did great things’

• Warwickshire Wildlife Trust chairman Michael Bunney said: “Andy transformed a small body of keen volunteers into a significant organisation with a team of more than 40 staff and a subsidiary consultancy company that together are now a major influence not only in our area but have national and international impact.”

• The trust’s chief executive Stephen Trotter said: “We have lost a true friend in Andy – over the years he has achieved so much for people and wildlife not just in the West Midlands but at a national and international level too. His passing is a major loss to the cause of nature conservation and the natural environment.”

• Warwickshire County Council ecologist David Lowe said: “He was a great orator. He could engage communities fantastically well. He was brilliant at enthusing people into action.

"He did some great things for Warwickshire’s and therefore England’s wildlife.”