Article 28 jan, 2020

Dr Graeme Worboys, Order of Australia and Inspiring Person of the Month

On Australia Day, 26 January 2020, it was announced that Dr Graeme Worboys had received the Order of Australia, one of the country's highest honours.

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Photo: Dr Graeme Worboys

Dr Graeme Worboys

Dr Worboys is a highly respected protected area professional and is recognised nationally and internationally as a leading authority on World Heritage; protected area management and connectivity conservation management. His globally significant contribution was recognised at the IUCN World Congress in Hawaii in 2014 when he received the IUCN Fred M. Packard Award for his contributions to protected areas and conservation.

Dr Worboys is both a prodigious convenor of expertise based forums and writer/editor of collaborative works with a substantial publication list. His major recent project “Protected Area Governance and Management was a highly significant undertaking with ANU Fenner School and published by ANU Press. Since its launch, it has received 86,000 downloads in 87 countries.

Dr Worboys has also published, as lead editor and author, IUCN’s Connectivity Conservation Management: A Global Guide Book (2010) and an Australian protected area management text book (2001 and 2005).

In recent years, despite dealing with some difficult health issues, he has remained an active leading figure in defending his beloved Kosciuszko National Park and writing a major work on its complex and often difficult history as an iconic park  which has suffered multiple blows. He is one of the leading experts and advocates for addressing the immense damage being done to this unique alpine area by feral horses.