Nicky Hager Wins 'Old Blue'

Forest and Bird, Issue 297, 1 August 2000, Page 12

Nicky Hager Wins 'Old Blue'

icky Hager, a key figure in the successful campaign to protect publiclyowned West Coast native forests from logging, has been given an ‘Old Blue’ award by Forest and Bird. The national president, Keith Chapple, says that Nicky Hager made an outstanding contribution to rainforest conservation over a 25-year period. ‘In recent times Nicky has helped inspire a new generation of forest activists in Native Forest Action. They sat in the trees, wrote hundreds of letters and submissions, and helped develop a solution that meets conservationists’ needs and those of the West Coast local communities.’ Announcing the award Keith Chapple said Nicky Hager had a

remarkable talent for ferreting out information other people wished to conceal. ‘His book Secrets and Lies lifted the lid on a shady side of the public relations industry that sought to manipulate media and public opinion against conservation? Forest and Bird’s annual council meeting also unanimously passed a motion welcoming the Government’s decision to end the logging of the publicly owned West Coast forests. Further Old Blue awards to branch activists are detailed in Branching Out on page 42. Old Blue was the female black robin whose reproductive efforts saved the species from extinction.