Andrew Currie

Andrew Currie, who has died aged 81, was a man who cared as much for people as for natural history. And his belief that the two were inextricably linked won him many friends of nature both on Skye, where he was based for more than 35 years, and further afield across Scotland.

Quiet and unassuming but hugely knowledgeable, he was always happy to share with others his extensive experience which ranged from cacti, birds and hill farming to sites of special scientific interest and the environmental impact of projects from the Skye Bridge to oil industry developments.

The son of bank manager Thomas Currie and his wife Julia, he was born in Edinburgh's Brunton Gardens and educated at the Royal High School. In his youth he was heavily involved in the Scouts and the Scripture Union and after leaving school he did his National Service as a weapons inspector in the Royal Army Ordinance Corps.

His working life began at the Cactus House at the Royal Botanic Garden in Edinburgh where he spent several years before taking up a post as an experimental officer for the Hill Farming Research Organisation in Kelso.

From there he moved north to the Black Isle to join the Nature Conservancy Council (NCC) as an assistant regional officer for Sutherland, Caithness and Ross and Cromarty.

There he became involved with Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI), nature reservations and in local public inquiries into developments for the fledgling North Sea oil industry, particularly at Nigg Bay.

In 1976 he moved to Skye with the NCC, becoming responsible for the island, the Outer Hebrides and the Small Isles. Married by this time, with two sons, he and his family moved to a cottage on Broadford Bay.

He loved the culture of Skye and its range of fascinating habitats and became closely involved in the notification and designation of new SSSIs there.

A keen ornithologist and member of the Scottish Ornithologists' Club and the British Trust for Ornithology, he undertook considerable bird survey work, both on Skye and the Black Isle. His extensive data on Skye birds, which he had begun collecting in the 1980s in the hope of producing a book, was eventually passed to his friend and fellow ornithologist Bob McMillan, for incorporation into his book, Skye Birds, the first record of the island's bird population for 100 years.

Mr Currie also set up a branch of the Scottish Wildlife Trust in Easter Ross and went on to chair a branch of the organisation he established on Skye.

In addition to giving talks to schools and organisations all over Scotland, he was a local newspaper columnist, his long-running Nature Diary in the West Highland Free Press becoming something of an institution.

Among his visitors to Skye were prominent figures in the field of conservation, including the Scottish zoologist, writer and conservationist John Morton Boyd, as well as singer Toyah Wilcox who came to talk to him, as an expert on eagles, for a television series.

After retiring from the Natural Conservancy Council he continued to work as an environmental consultant for clients including the NCC's successor Scottish Natural Heritage, Isle Ornsay Estate on Skye and the Skye Bridge contractors.

In his environmental survey for the bridge, described as a shining example to others, he was determined to help the project do as little harm as possible whilst still benefiting the community – a reflection of his belief that man and the environment cannot be treated in separation.

"He was one of the unsung heroes of the professional conservation movement and ahead of his time in his insistence that people should be regarded as an integral part of the natural environment – of nature," said his friend, nature writer Jim Crumley.

"He differed from many NCC colleagues in that he spoke the language of the natives and embraced communities. He was quiet, patient and painstaking, and if the pace at which he worked infuriated the NCC bureaucracy, it was an approach that worked with the people."

Mr Currie also sat on the Isle of Eigg and John Muir trusts, acting as a special technical advisor to the latter and was a staunch Nationalist who had been actively involved in the Scottish National Party during the 1960s and 70s. He had once discussed the relative merits of independence and republicanism with Prince Charles, patron of the John Muir Trust, while still determinedly sporting his SNP badge on his lapel.

Among his other interests were the Scots language, local piping recitals and the Faith Mission.

He is survived by his wife Hazel, whom he married in 1956, and their sons Duncan and Malcolm