TAIB is very sad to announce that its great mentor and creator of
the Project at s'Albufera has died.
Max Nicholson first came to Mallorca on a family holiday in the
late 1970s. Max was also involved with the Royal Society for the
Protection of Birds, including two spells as President, so it was
natural that he made contact with Eddie Watkinson, a British birdwatcher
based in Pollena who was also the RSPB representative on the island. At
that time Eddie and his friends (British and Mallorcan) were getting
concerned at threats to the Albufera - in particular threats to drain
and urbanise parts of it for tourism. Eddie persuaded Max to help with
the campaign to save it. Max used his influence with the RSPB and
international bodies such as the WWF, to draw attention to the plight of
one of the Mediterranean's most important wetlands and to secure funds
for its purchase. At a crucial moment, Eddie tragically died and Max
thought that without Eddie's drive and local contacts the fight would be
lost. Much to Max's delight, Eddie's widow Pat (now Pat Bishop) carried
on the struggle and, together with much international and local support,
they managed to persuade the Balearic government to protect the site and
make it a Parc Natural. In the end, the Balearic people recognised the
importance of the site and international money was not needed to save
it.
What was needed, however, was knowledge about the site and
demonstration of why it was so important. To meet this need Max
organised an a team of scientists, originally from Britain but in later
years more and more international, to make regular visits to study the
site. In order to do this he sought the backing of the newly formed
Earthwatch Europe, using the project as an impetus for Earthwatch Europe
to get going and give the organisation a flagship initiative to heighten
its prestige. At the same time, Max was able to put a team in the field
to tackle an issue which was concerning Max more and more, and for which
little work was being done. That issue was global environmental change
and its effects on the environment.
The first Principal Investigator was Professor Palmer Newbould, an
eminent recently retired British ecologist. Dr Franklyn Perring and
Terry Wells were other eminent scientists who headed the project in the
1990s. The project was known for several years as Earthwatch Europe
Project S'Albufera, with the more specific but less catchy subtitle of A
Mediterranean Model for the Monitoring of Biodiversity and Environmental
Change.
In 1997 Earthwatch Europe withdrew from funding of the project, though
continuing with an African Biologists training programme until 1999. A
difficult period followed but Max (and other supporters and lovers of
s'Albufera) fought hard to keep the project going, even though by then
he was well into his 90s. Max retained a huge enthusiasm for the project
throughout and was always eager for news. He visited the project at
least once most years until he was about 96!
Over the last two to three years Project S'Albufera has become well
established and internationally respected. The team comprises an
international association of scientists under the cachet The Albufera
International Biodiversity group (TAIB). Max lived to see yet another of
his ideas turn from dream to reality. He was immensely proud of the
project, and thrilled to see more and more Balearic and Spanish
involvement in it. The last time I saw him, he toasted TAIB as his final
success. It is a huge honour for us that we should stand alongside all
his major achievements, such as setting the pathway for such giant
organisations as WWF and IUCN, and a delight that he lived to see the
project become a success after a number of difficult and challenging
years.
