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Justin Ruddle became Brownsea's latest head warden in 2008, taking over a role which is unique in the conservation management industry. He'd previously managed the Slindon Estate in West Sussex for the National Trust but managing an island brought a whole new set of challenges.

"The biggest challenge and the thing that sets it apart from anywhere else I've ever worked is of course it being an island," said Justin.

"Everything that we need for the running of the island, cafe and shop including the staff has to come over by boat. This creates all sorts of interesting problems if we need to get machinery over for habitat management and things like that."

Island community

While there's no popping to the shops for a pint of milk, Justin says living on Brownsea is not as lonely an experience as you might expect. He is part of a community of about 30 people who live on the island all year round, including a number children. In the summer months the numbers of overnight guests and day visitors can swell to several hundred.

To help him manage the island there's a full time year round team of four. That includes two staff who work for Dorset Wildlife Trust maintaining the island's nature reserve. There is also an army of staff, which comes across daily to run the cafe and shop, manage the office and guide the visitors.

That's not to mention the many hundreds of volunteers from schools, companies and community groups who visit every year to lend a hand with the relentless conservation work.

The hotel on Brownsea Island

Rhododendron clearance

There's no shortage of work. Justin is managing the legacy created by previous owners of the island. The National Trust took over the island's management when Brownsea was donated to the Treasury in lieu of death duties from the estate of the island's last private owner Mary Bonham-Christie.

She had allowed the island to be returned to nature. When the trust took over, its first job was to create a path through the rampant rhododendrons which had covered Brownsea and squeezed out many other species.

Forty years on the rhododendron clearance continues and remains a top priority for Justin Ruddle.Ìý He said, "When the trust took over... a huge amount of clearance work had to be done just to get access across the island. The rhododendrons are still here so we've got an ongoing programmes of management, clearing them back and treating it so it doesn't regrow with a view to try to improve biodiversity on the island."

It'll be some time before the rhododendrons disappear completely from the island but areas of heathland which were taken over by the invasive plants are returning and the woodlands are becoming more diverse.

Climate change

Justin's other challenge concerns the future and the prospect of sea level rise as a result of climate change. Parts of the island are eroding and the sea defences are under threat. There's the fear that the fresh water lagoon on the eastern side of the island which is so important to migrating birds could disappear. Justin admits, "Not knowing how far it's (sea level) is going to rise creates an interesting conundrum."

While Justin Ruddle has plenty to keep him awake at night he can escape the stresses of managing an island. He has friends and family in Bournemouth where he grew up and can be on the mainland within ten minutes.

With sun, sea and sand and not to mention internationally important wildlife on his doorstep, Justin Ruddle is in no hurry to escape island life just yet.ÌýÌýÌý