A FATHER and son whose lives have been dedicated to conservation have appeared side by side on the King’s Birthday Honours list.

Volunteer Tony Atkinson, 89, was awarded the MBE for his services to wildlife and ecology. And in what Tony describes as an amazing and wonderful coincidence, his son, Professor Angus Atkinson, was recognised for his services to polar marine research and conservation.

Professor Atkinson, who attended Callington School, is now based at the Plymouth Marine Laboratory. Tony, who lives in Downgate, explained how an affinity for the natural world is shared by the whole family: daughter Kim is an established wildlife artist.

“On coming to Cornwall in 1969 when my children were growing up, my wife Mary and I became very interested in the geology, mining  and natural history of this area.

“We recorded natural history, at first locally with the Caradon Field Club, but then more widely in Cornwall.

“Mary and I spent a lot of time botanical recording and she was co-author of the 2000 Flora Atlas of Cornwall Plants.”

A keen birdwatcher as a youngster, Tony’s early career began in agriculture, and after farming for ten years he went onto the water as a fisherman on the trawlers, running a company with his brother.

Alongside outdoor work from forestry to erecting pig houses, Tony took up various voluntary roles in conservation, serving on the Cornwall Wildlife Trust and the Cornwall and Isles of Scilly Federation of Biological Recorders.

“I've been retired from full-time employment for many years, but until very recently I was still doing contract bat survey and other related work.

“I’m still a Natural England Volunteer Bat Warden, assisting and advising members of the public. And I do several types of bat surveys on a voluntary basis. I always try to take trainees with me to teach them about bats.”

Tony’s inspiration comes from the everyday, yet often secret world of nature that shares our own spaces.

“Think of the very humble Harvest Mouse. How many people have actually seen one alive, in the wild? In 89 years I've only ever seen one.

“The Cornwall Mammal Group have been out searching for them over the last two winters. And we find them in almost every suitable habitat throughout the county almost every time we search for them. They are everywhere - but unless we go looking for them we would never know!”

A colleague in the Mammal Society said: “Tony is one of the most knowledgeable, enthusiastic and rigorous members of the Cornwall group and is always happy to share his experience.

“Although he is well into his ninth decade, he is still leading underground bat hibernation surveys, going where others fear to tread, and scampering around roofs as a bat ecologist. He has been active in establishing several local wildlife groups and also setting up and supporting recording in Cornwall.

“Between he and Mary, his wife, there is little about wildlife they don’t know, and if there is then they go and find out!”