Peter Savill DBH

At the end of last month, my lifetime professional colleague and friend Dr Peter Savill sadly passed away. I had the great privilege of collaborating widely with Peter from the very beginning of my career in forestry. He was a true gentleman, humble and generous in equal measure, and will be sadly missed.

Together we planned the creation of Britain’s first research woodland dedicated to hardwood trees, and helped develop a programme dedicated to their genetic improvement. We worked together as trustees for a woodland charity, and he was my academic supervisor for my DPhil at Oxford. We conducted research together, including an epic tree hunting expedition to Kyrgyzstan, and co-authored many scientific papers. Peter later became a trustee of the Sylva Foundation, a charity I co-founded with Sir Martin Wood in 2009.

Foresters around the world will know Peter, either through his respected books on silviculture, or as one of his students he taught while a lecturer at Oxford University.

This morning I had the honour of presenting a short eulogy at his funeral service. While I won’t offer the full text here, I include a short poem that I wrote to remember Peter. For those that knew Peter, I hope this resonates. I’ve titled it ‘Peter Savill DBH’.

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Peter Savill DBH

 An undefined acronym would never escape
 I can imagine in the margin
 A green biro question mark
 And a circled ‘RIP’

 Generations of foresters
 Nurtured and inspired
 By basal area and DBH
 That’s diameter at breast height

 Silviculturist, scientist, tutor, and friend
 At 1.3 metres
 His heart had the greatest
 Diameter at breast height

 Peter Savill, DBH
 Distinguished
 Brilliant
 Human