Obituary: Andrew Lees

It would be wrong not to add a tribute to Andrew Lees from the policymaker's side of the fence, writes William Waldegrave [further to the obituary by Richard D. North, 9 January].

Lees was amongst that group of serious environmental campaigners who won the respect of those whom he sought to persuade, thereby making his persuasion more likely to succeed. I first met him in relation to the Halvergate Marshes. I remember that officials on the occasion of my first visit there were not particularly keen that I should meet him on the site; my first and enduring picture of him was therefore of a figure in wellingtons popping up out of a ditch to add his briefing to the rest.

That a system was devised to save Halvergate (and other similar areas where farming and ecology need careful joint management) was not a little to do with his work; equally, the fact that the Norfolk Broads now have full National Park status owes much tohis campaigning. His particular contribution was always the seriousness and professionalism of his research, as well as the more common skills of the lobbyist and publicist.