Grey Owl was a popular writer and conservationist whose views on wilderness conservation brought international attention to the negative impact of exploiting nature and the urgent need to develop respect for the natural world - early in the 20th century. Born Archibald Stansfeld Belaney in Hastings in 1888, in the latter years of his life he passed as half-Indian, claiming he was the son of a Scottish man and an Apache woman. Peter Smith will talk about how Grey Owl is still revolutionising nature conservation and how his legacy is influencing us today.    

Peter, now manager of the RSPCA's Mallydams Wildlife Centre in Fairlight, was the founder & Chief Executive of the Wildwood Trust for 18 years. He has been a leading proponent of rewilding since the start of his career over 30 years ago. Peter has worked across the world on some of the most ground-breaking conservation programmes at the leading edge of ecological science.