Lee Schofield (conservationist)

Schofield was born in Scotland but spent his childhood in Devon.[3] He studied Zoology at University,[4] followed by an MSc in Ecological Management at Imperial College, London.[5] For his MSc dissertation[5] and for a subsequent academic publication,[6] he investigated social attitudes to large mammal reintroductions in the Scottish Highlands, a subject he would later return to in his writing.[7]   

Schofield began working as site manager for the RSPB at Haweswater shortly after the charity took over the tenancies of Naddle and Swindale Farms in 2012.[3] The work he oversees is based on a partnership with United Utilities,[8] who own the Haweswater Reservoir and the 10,000 hectares of catchment land around it.[9] The part of the catchment that falls under the RSPB and United Utilities partnership is managed for the benefit of water, wildlife and people.[10] Major programmes of woodland, bog, hay meadow and river restoration[11][12] have been delivered and a sustainable grazing regime with native breed cattle and ponies and a small number of sheep has replaced the previous more intensive sheep-grazing model,[13] resulting in increases in a wide range of species, including Atlantic salmon,[14] tree pipit,[15] red grouse, marsh fritillary butterfly,[16] water vole[17] and many specialist upland plants. Haweswater is increasingly recognised as one of the UK's most ambitious and pioneering nature recovery projects[4] and has received multiple awards and accolades.[18][19][20]    

Schofield's first book, Wild Fell: Fighting for Nature on a Lake District Hill Farm, was published in February 2022. Reviewing it for The Guardian, Amy-Jane Beer described Schofield as "a delightfully companionable guide".[2] It details his work at Haweswater, charting both the ecological changes that he has helped to bring about, as well as the personal challenges involved.[3][21] Wild Fell won the Richard Jefferies Award in 2022,[22] and was Highly Commended in the James Cropper Wainwright Prize for Writing on Conservation in the same year.[23]

Schofield regularly gives talks and interviews[24] about his work, and has contributed to several anthologies,[25][26] co-authored academic papers,[27][28][6] and written for magazines, including British Wildlife,[29] Inkcap Journal,[30] Cumbria Life and BBC Wildlife.

Official website