The Chronicle 2022

ST MICHAEL AWARD WINNERS From left: Jon Richard Bates, Dr Reginald Dudley Forde, Peter Pickford

the message he is trying to send in their own way. In this way, their response transcends the literal and becomes intimate and personal to the reader or viewer. Thirdly, Peter has never subscribed to the conservation adage “if it pays it stays” and has actively used his public profile to fight against social exclusivity in the wilderness where only the wealthy have access to the diminishing assets of our natural heritage. He believes strongly that the only true security that the wilderness can have is when it is possessed in the hearts of a people in a nation or the world. His work encourages this association. In his written work To the Edges of the Earth , Peter has sought to engage a larger, more diverse audience and sway them through the touch of intimacy to feel the magnificent privilege we own today in stepping out into the kaleidoscope of the world. Through such work Peter believes he is encouraging wilderness conservation. Peter and Beverly have created two Nature Reserves in South Africa, purchasing land and then changing its status to that of a Nature Reserve and thereafter ensuring its conservation. The first, Sangebethu Nature Reserve , in the Riviersonderend Mountains of the Western Cape conserves 2 000 hectares of

mountain fynbos in pristine condition, as well as protecting a vital water catchment area. The Sangebethu Nature Reserve is surrounded on three sides by Cape Nature Mountain Reserve and therefore offers an unbroken conservation tract of an entire mountain system of more than 30 000 hectares. The second reserve lies adjacent to the existing Groot Paternoster Nature Reserve on the West Coast where land he and Beverly purchased was adjacent to the reserve and where now nearly eight kilometres of natural coastline has been protected. The Groot Paternoster Nature Reserve has been zoned with “critical conservation status” and will, this year, be registered with the same conservation status as a national park. The reserve protects a unique portion of the coastline that lies in association with a series of granite rock islands where thousands of seals and sea birds breed, including one of the few existing breeding colonies of the endangered bank cormorant. The reserve land adjacent to the coast protects vital endangered black harrier nesting habitats. Peter has worked alongside his wife, Beverly, dividing his time between writing, photo-journalism and being a spokesperson for numerous conservation issues facing the wild coast and elsewhere in Africa. He has touched the lives of many and it is our pleasure to confer on Peter Pickford the St Michael Award.

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