Clive Briffett: Nature pioneer dies in England at age 68

Grace Chua Straits Times 10 Nov 11;

MOST nature lovers here have never met Dr Clive Briffett, but would be familiar with what this British environmental consultant has given to Singapore - he was among the first to come up with the concept of a 'green corridor' connecting our nature areas.

Dr Briffett, who worked in Singapore in the 1980s and 1990s, died of a heart attack in England late last month. He was 68.

The legacy which this keen birdwatcher and member of the Nature Society Singapore (NSS) has left behind includes several books on Singapore birds which he co-authored and his push for the protection of sites like Sungei Buloh.

Though the National University of Singapore academic returned to the city of Oxford in 2001, he kept in touch with friends here. His death sparked an outpouring of support and reminiscences on a webpage set up by his son Philip, 37.

Veteran nature guide and author Lim Kim Seng said that, as the first chair of the Bird Group in NSS, Dr Briffett helped to grow the fledgling group - then called the Malayan Nature Society (Singapore Branch) Bird Group - into what it is today.

Dr Briffett also initiated the Singapore Bird Race, a bird count, in 1984, and an annual bird census in 1986.

Among the books he wrote and edited was the 1984 A Guide To The Common Birds Of Singapore, a pocket-sized volume that has drawn many a young nature-lover into birdwatching.

Crucially, he was among those who pushed for the conservation of the mangroves and wildlife in Sungei Buloh, and for studies into environmental impact to be made compulsory before developments are undertaken.

Dr Ho Hua Chew of the NSS conservation committee and Mr Alan Owyong of its Bird Group jointly paid tribute to him as that rare academic 'who dared in the 1980s and 1990s to venture out of the ivory tower of academia to commit himself fearlessly and persistently to advocating nature conservation'.

That an eco-link is being built today to link the Bukit Timah Nature Reserve and the Central Catchment Area is a legacy of his push to develop 'green corridors', which enable animals to move between the two habitats.

Before coming here as a lecturer and environmental consultant, Dr Briffett worked in Hong Kong and the United Kingdom as a building surveyor.

Where his work took him, his family followed. The family lived in Kenya for three years, where camping trips were frequent.

Philip, his youngest son, told The Straits Times in an e-mail: 'Dad never stood still.'

'As a family, we always had great adventures with him,' he added, recalling having hippos wander around their tent in Kenya and a leech attack on Fraser's Hill in Malaysia, where the family also had to avoid a cobra's nest.

Dr Briffett is survived by his wife Hilary and three children - Anna, 40, who runs a farm in Cambridge with her husband; Peter, 39, and Philip, who work for social buying site LivingSocial; seven grand- and step-grandchildren also mourn his loss.

A service will take place today in Oxford. A memorial website has been set up at clivebriffett.blogspot.com