South African conservationist. Keith Cooper was born and raised in Pietermaritzburg. Although his training was in banking, finance, and administration (after leaving school he worked for the Standard Bank for more than five years), nature and conservation were his life hobby and eventually became his career. His mentor was Prof. Eugene Moll and he was greatly encouraged by Ian Garland, C.J. Ward, and H.B. Nicholson.

He started his career in conservation in 1961 as an administrator at the Oceanographic Research Institute in Durban. In 1972 he joined the Wildlife and Environmental Society of South Africa (WESSA), where he served as Conservation Director for 30 years. During this period he established numerous conservancies, nature reserves and protected areas around the country and helped communities adjacent to conservation areas develop eco-tourism and associated conservation projects.

His first plant collecting commenced as a result of undertaking a survey of forests in KwaZulu-Natal, Free State, Transvaal, and Transkei. He has since developed an interest in all flowering plants, in particular those with medicinal value. After retiring he continued his involvement in projects as an Associate of WESSA, and is currently working closely with Robert Scott-Shaw of the Ezemvelo-KZN Wildlife Organisation on a botanical survey of the Mbona Private Nature Reserve. He is also a Founder Trustee of the Greening of the Environment Trust, which raises funds for greening projects in metropolitan Durban.

His main scientific contributions have been as author of two forest surveys, in addition to many WESSA field reports, and as book editor of Studies on the Ecology of Maputaland. In recognition of his scientific and conservation work in preserving South Africa's biodiversity, he received an honorary doctorate from the University of KwaZulu-Natal in 2003.

Sources:
Personal communication, February 2007.