In 2017, Darren joined the Woodland Trust as its Director of Estates & Woodland Outreach before becoming its Chief Executive in September 2019. Prior to this, Darren gained his PhD from Oxford University before joining the RSPB, where he held a variety of roles including responsibility for their UK Conservation Programmes.
At the Trust, Darren has been responsible for: the Trust’s acquisition strategy – growing the estate to c29,000 hectares across the UK; expanding our woodland creation with schools, local communities and partners to over 4 million trees/annum; and our restoration of over 2,000 ha/year of ancient woodlands. He now leads the UK’s largest woodland nature conservation charity, with over 500,000 members and supporters.