5 January 2010

A dedication to conservation and the environment was rewarded in the New Year Honours as Graham Wynne, the RSPB's chief executive received a knighthood.

Sir Graham Wynne has been the Society's chief executive since 1998 and under his guidance Europe's largest wildlife conservation charity has been a voice for change, speaking out about issues affecting the conservation of birds in the UK and around the world.

Sir Graham’s vision for spotting the right course of action and a steely determination to get the job done, have earned him huge respect. These qualities have been recognised through invitations to join Policy Commission for the Future of Food and Farming, as well as the Adaptation Committee on Climate Change, both of which focus on the future of our environment.

For 120 years the RSPB has championed bird conservation in the UK. During Sir Graham’s time at the helm, the Society has been swift to engage with emerging threats, such as climate change, albatross bycatch and rainforest destruction.

Sir Graham has been strongly committed to build on the RSPB's heritage of managing land directly for the conservation of nature. Since 1998, the Society's portfolio has increased by over one third to 206 nature reserves, including new major sites close to cities, such as Rainham Marshes on the Thames Estuary within the M25.

A visionary when it comes to land management, Sir Graham has personally driven the restoration of some of the wildest landscapes in Britain, including the widespread removal of non-native conifers from vast tracts of the Flow Country and the re-creation of oases of wetland habitat within the footprint of the original East Anglian fens and the Somerset Levels.

However, Sir Graham is the first to recognise the enormity of the challenges that lie ahead. He said: "I feel immensely honoured by this award…However, with the scale of the environmental challenges ahead towering over us all, there is little time to pause for thought. With many species predicted to be committed to extinction because of climate change, we must continue to rise to the challenge of giving wildlife a secure future."