Conservation Recognised in Queen's Honours

Forest and Bird, Issue 297, 1 August 2000, Page 6

Conservation Recognised in Queen's Honours

Ts president of Forest and Bird, along with a former president and several others involved with nature and conservation, have been recognised with honours marking the Queen’s Birthday. * Gordon Ell, who was national president of the Society from 1990 till 1994, has been made an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to journalism and conservation. * Richard Drake, long-time chair of the Northland Conservation Board, becomes a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to farming, conservation and the community. * Rhys Buckingham, who rediscovered the South Island kokako in 1982, becomes a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to ecology. * Keith Chapple, national president of Forest and Bird since 1996, becomes a Companion of the Queen’s Service Order for Community Service. * David Crockett, who rediscovered the magenta petrel, or taiko, on Chatham Island in 1976, becomes a Companion of the Queen’s Service Order for Public Services. * Bruce Hamilton of Westport, for six years chair of the West Coast Tai Poutini Conservation Board, becomes a Companion of the Queen’s Service Order for Public Services.

Gordon Ell ONZM, a North Shore publisher, writer and photographer, has long been active in Forest and Bird; at first as chair and councillor for North Shore branch in the late 1970s, and later as a member of the national executive from 1982, deputy president from 1984, then national president 1990-94.

At the same time he was active in Northland as a member of parks boards and committees, and from 1990 till May 2000 served as the Forest and Bird nominee to the New Zealand Conservation Authority. During that time he was particularly involved in chairing Conservation Week, in pests and weeds advocacy, and in the investigations for the Kahurangi National Park, the proposed kauri national park, and as convenor of the Rakiura national park committee. As a journalist he has worked in newspapers,

radio and television, book publishing, and at Auckland University, and is the author of more than 30 books, for adults and children, about New Zealand’s natural and historic heritage. Richard Drake MNZM has been farming in Northland for more than 25 years, and involved in farmers’ affairs regionally and nationally. Besides his community activities in Tangiteroria, he has been active in conservation in Northland, chairing the Northland National Parks and Reserves Board from 1981-1990, then joining the new Northland

Conservation Board and serving as its chairman from 1993-1999. He has been active promoting conservation in the wider community and also involved in the formation and development of public walkways in the wider Auckland region. Rhys Buckingham MNZM is an ecologist based in Nelson. He spent more than 20 years searching for the South Island kokako on Stewart Island and in Westland and northwest Nelson. In 1982 he rediscovered the bird — presumed extinct — on Stewart Island but his subsequent expeditions charted the disappearance of the bird there and in Westland. The story of his work in isolated places was profiled in the May 1998 edition of Forest & Bird. Keith Chapple QSO of Kakahi near Taumarunui, has been national president of Forest and Bird since 1996, and a member of the national executive since

1990. He receives the award for Community Service, notably his advocacy for restoring water flows to the Whanganui River, which involved a long legal battle against Electricorp, in which he appeared as a lay advocate. He was also involved in the development of a management plan for controlling the number of wild horses in the Kaimanawa district, and is a member of the Taranaki/Whanganui Conservation Board. Kate Camp wrote a profile of him in Forest & Bird, February 1998. David Crockett QSO of Whangarei is recognised for Public Services. He has given long service to ornithology and science education in Northland where he was for 24 years the senior science adviser to schools. He has been a national council member and vice president of the Ornithological Society for some years. As a schoolboy he found the bones of an unusual petrel in storage at the Canterbury Museum, an event which triggered off 26 years searching for the Chatham Islands taiko which he rediscovered nesting in 1976. It had been thought extinct for more than 100 years, and his subsequent work has included many expeditions to find more specimens and protect them. Bruce Hamilton QSO of Westport, was a member of the West Coast Tai Poutini Conservation Board from 19921999, and its chairman for six years. He is also active in farming affairs and community development, and receives the award for Public Services.