2005 Loder Cup winner - Ewen Cameron

Ewen Cameron wins Loder Cup

Auckland Museum botany curator Ewen Cameron has been awarded the Loder Cup for his outstanding contribution to botany and conservation.

“This prestigious national award is a fitting tribute to Mr Cameron's 30 years of passionate commitment to natural history, research and conservation, a commitment that has inspired many other conservationists, scientists and students,” Conservation Minister Chris Carter said.

Forest and Bird President, Professor Peter Maddison acknowledged Mr Cameron as “a leader in natural history and a tireless worker for conservation.”

He had added over 13,000 specimens to the internationally recognised Auckland Museum herbarium and documented many plants from the northern offshore islands, including some for the first time.

As president of the Auckland Botanical Society since 1983 and a member of the New Zealand Threatened Plants Committee, he had led field trips and surveys, investigated and advocated against invasive weeds, given talks and lectures, run workshops, prepared submissions and published a wide range of botanical articles. He was actively involved in campaigns to save remnant natural areas in the Auckland region, such as St John’s Bush, Mt Eden Rock Forest, Eadys’ Bush and the Otuataua Stonefields, Professor Maddison said.

Mr Cameron was nominated for the award by the Royal Forest and Bird Protection Society.