Pride of NZ: Conservationist Allan Anderson

Allan Anderson - farmer, conservationist, councillor and tireless community worker - has been recognised in this year's New Year's Honours list.

Funding for Bushy Park comes from amazing places, points out Allan Anderson.

The conservationist, who has been associated with the sanctuary since 1962, brings out a glossy hardback book produced by The Mohamed bin Zayed Species Conservation Fund.

Bushy Park was granted $14,500 by the fund to help keep the hihi (stitchbird) among us. Fifteen thousand applications were made to the foundation and only 200 were successful, and the hihi application was one of only a few bird projects approved.

"There was everything from tarantulas to tortoises - but only three birds," Mr Anderson said.

The Whanganui District Board member and former district councillor was nominated for a Pride of New Zealand award for being "the driving force in the creation of one of New Zealand's premier fenced sanctuaries for rare native birds".

The nomination reads that since 1996 he has given on average 30 hours per weeks of unpaid voluntary work to the park, which is a 100ha reserve of native forest 25km north-west of Wanganui.

His work includes the building of the 4.8km pest-proof fence that now rings the park. "Allan single-handedly raised the $1 million, which saw the project opened on time, within budget and paid for," his nominator noted.

Like most volunteers, Mr Anderson is unassuming.

"You are always part of a big team - it fell to me to the the leader.
"It doesn't matter where you are in the chain, you are irreplaceable - be that the person who puts out the sugar water for the birds, catches them or does the funding applications."

He started volunteering at Bushy Park through Forest and Bird in 1962, and his efforts included baking 400 scones for the park's first open day that year. He also served 12 years as executive committee chairman of the Bushy Park Trust.

He believes he has been a member of Forest and Bird longer than anyone in New Zealand, and he has always been interested in conservation.

"The human species is the only species that can bring another to extinction and the only species that can bring it back from the brink.

"We have lost so much.
"I have always had a passion for nature from a young age, from tigers in India to birds in South America."

He said "rampant consumerism" was the reason for the predicament the Earth was in.
"If the whole world was to enjoy the standard of living the West expects, we would need five planets.

"But we only have one.

"I read recently that the State of California consumes more of the world's resources than the whole of the Indian subcontinent."

His conservation values are echoes of his Christian beliefs.

"We have domain over creatures and we should exert guardianship.

" ... We need to care for the environment and share it with other life forms."

Mr Anderson said he was a "little bit self-conscious" about the nomination but he accepted it on behalf of everybody who had worked on the local hihi initiative.