Mauricio González-Gordon y Díez

His family estate was located in the wetland region called Doñana in southern Spain and was threatened by drainage efforts in the early 1950s.

González-Gordon with the help of researchers and international support managed to preserve the site, while at the same time donating some of his family land to the conservation effort.

González-Gordon was born on 18 October 1923 in Hampton Hill, London, United Kingdom,[1] as a son to a Spanish family with Scottish descent rooted in the Clan Gordon.

[1] One of his ancestors, John David Gordon of Wardhouse, had moved to Jerez de la Frontera in the 18th century and started trading in sherry.

[2] At the time of his birth, González-Gordon's father Manuel was the chairman of González Byass and was actively promoting the brand in the United Kingdom.

[5] He passed the final period of the Spanish Civil War in 1939 working in an airplane factory, helping construct Polikarpov planes for the aerial forces of General Francisco Franco.

[6] While working for the firm he was involved in the making, tasting and commercialisation of sherry and in later years he also helped the company expand into producing brandy and several sorts of wine.

[4] Apart from his work at González Byass González-Gordon also diverted some of his time towards the regulatory council of the sherry making industry, serving for 24 years.

[4] His family estate was located in the Coto Doñana, a wetland at the mouth of the river Guadalquivir, near Jerez de la Frontera, in southern Spain.

When two Spanish ornithologists, Professor Francisco Bernis and José Antonio Valverde visited, González-Gordon served as their guide.

The González-Gordon family saw that the wetlands were threatened by the planting of eucalyptus trees and large-scale drainage plans proposed by the government.

[12] After winning their fight against the construction plans González-Gordon, Bernis and Valverde wished to create a Spanish foundation for ornithology.

The organisation was supported by visits to Doñana of famous ornithologists as Edward Max Nicholson and Julian Huxley, with González-Gordon guiding them around.