Roger James 1945 – 2024

Members of this group were greatly saddened to hear of the death of our Chairperson, Roger James, at the end of July. Our thoughts are with his wife Julia and two sons Jeff and Martin. As well as being Chair of this group, Roger was also Chair of the Newport City Council’s Local Biodiversity Partnership, President Emeritus of Gwent Wildlife Trust, Chair of the Wildlife in Newport Group (Wing) and a former Trustee of the South East Wales Biodiversity Records Centre.

Roger was our Chair from the inception of the Monmouthshire Moth & Butterfly Group in 2000. He was instrumental in the setting up of the group. Roger took early retirement in 1998 and this allowed him to devote the majority of his time to the conservation and recording of wildlife. He recorded many moth Vice County firsts and his most notable was probably the small ranunculus in 1999. His pride in this was reflected in his email address, smallranunculus@......

Roger’s enthusiasm and knowledge was boundless and he always had time to share his expertise with others. I first met Roger in 1990, when I joined Wing – looking to gain experience in conservation. Roger’s help and guidance helped me gain admittance to a degree course in Environmental Biology at Swansea University. After graduation, he was my referee for every job that I applied for. I am sure there are many others who were also helped in their careers in conservation by Roger and knowledgeable amateurs and volunteers whose interest he nurtured. He will be greatly missed by all who knew him.