North-East Bioregional Network president Todd Dudley was recognised with the Australian Conservation Foundation’s 2018 Peter Rawlinson Award on November 23.

The Peter Rawlinson Award was established in 1992, and celebrated outstanding voluntary contributions to protecting the environment.

Mr Dudley won the award in recognition of two decades of protecting and restoring ecologically significant landscapes on the East Coast.

He said it was nice to be recognised for his efforts.

“I hope it also motivates people to more actively participate in the protection and restoration of nature on the beautiful and unique East Coast of Tasmania,” he said.

Mr Dudley said projects he was working on included the ecological restoration of quarries at St Helens Point and the Bay of Fires, the protection of future production forests as conservation reserves, and the Skyline Tier Ecological Restoration project.

ACF chief executive Kelly O’Shanassy said Mr Dudley had inspired “countless others” to join the effort in protecting Tasmania’s unique places and wildlife.

“In the Skyline Tier Ecological Restoration project Todd and a team of 18 locals restored bushland to the hills overlooking Scamander, where forest had been cut down in the 1960s and 70s and turned into a pine plantation,” she said.

“In a huge restoration effort, Todd and his team brought back biodiverse native forest using seeds that had survived in the ground under the pines.”

Mr Dudley said a number of people had been employed and trained as part of the Skyline Tier project.

“Todd is known for his knowledge and his passion, but also for his quiet diplomacy and patience – important qualities for anyone wanting to achieve lasting change,” Ms O’Shanassy said.

For more information about Mr Dudley’s achievements or to get involved, visit www.northeastbioregionalnetwork.org.au.