Debbie Stewart feels extremely humbled and honoured at being acknowledged in this year's Queen's Birthday Honours.
As the Rotorua grassroots conservation programme she helped develop celebrates 21 years, she is being made a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit (MNZM) for her services to birds of prey and raptor conservation.
The 53-year-old has been a falconer for 35 years, having first started her conservation exploits while working with kiwi at Rainbow Springs.
Since the late 1970s, Ms Stewart has worked for the captive management and advocacy of New Zealand wildlife, including birds such as kiwi, kea, kakariki and weka, reptiles such as tuatara, geckos and skinks, and both native and introduced freshwater fish.
She is also highly regarded internationally for her work with raptor and has represented New Zealand at conferences in the United Kingdom and the United Arab Emirates.