Ballycastle man Patrick Casement has been chairman of the National Trust in Northern Ireland since August 2000 and has a long history as an advocate for nature conservation in Northern Ireland.

He has, for many years, acted as an informal advisor to Trust staff, providing advice on the management of agricultural land, particularly on the North Coast. He has been a member of both the Trust's Northern Ireland Regional Committee and the charity's ruling Council since 1998, having been nominated to the latter by the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland.

Patrick was also a member of the Committee for Nature Conservation and its successor, the Council for Nature Conservation and the Countryside, from 1985 to 1996. These bodies advised the Department of the Environment on nature conservation issues including site designations, species protection, access policy and other environmental matters.

He also served as a member of Farming and Wildlife Group (FWAG), Northern Ireland, from 1988 to 1995 (Chairman from 1992 to 1994). FWAG provided advice to farmers on nature conservation on the farm, and acted as a forum for dialogue between farmers and conservationists.

He was a member of the RSPB's Northern Ireland Committee from 1996 to 2000 , and is a member of the Ulster Wildlife Trust, the British Trust for Ornithology and Butterfly Conservation. He has also undertaken fieldwork for the latter two organisations, recording species data for a series of major reports.

Education

• BA in Zoology from Oxford University
• MSc in Ecology from Durham University

Employment

• Wildlife Biologist with National Parks Service, Republic of Ireland, 1975-77
• Farmer on family farm in North Antrim since 1977

Other interests

• Walking - in Ireland, Britain, French Pyrenees, Italian Dolomites and Spain
• Reading
• Local history
• Opera