Sophie Conlon
TWO Carpenter Rocks residents have been inducted into the SA Environment Hall of Fame and given Lifetime Achiever Awards at the 2023 SA Environment Awards to honour their time, expertise and passion in preserving the state’s environment.
Neville Bonney and Maureen Christie were surprised when they discovered two of the five award recipients for the state-wide award were both Carpenter Rocks residents.
“For that small little area they were punching above their weight a little bit,” Mr Bonney said.
Ms Christie said it was pure chance and coincidence they were both given the same award.
The awards were presented by the Conservation Council in partnership with Green Adelaide, the Department for Environment and Water and the University of Adelaide’s Environment Institute.
Conservation Council of South Australia chief executive Craig Wilkins said all the recipients were inspirational.
“Our Lifetime Achiever Award recipients are pioneers, creating the organisations, concepts and approaches we take for granted today,” he said.
“These inspiring leaders join the SA Environment Hall of Fame, a legendary group of environment champions who have spent their lives working towards a sustainable future for our environment.”
Minister for Climate, Environment and Water Susan Close congratulated the awardees for their efforts in conserving and sustaining the environment.
“Through recognising the work of the award recipients, we hope that the community is inspired to follow their lead and contribute towards protecting and preserving our environment,” she said.
Mr Bonney was given the award for his dedication to Australian native plants, and restoration of native landscapes, but said he never did anything for the recognition.
“I’m very grateful, but just keep in mind that none of us do these types of things for accolades, we do it because we love the work we do over our lifetimes,” he said.
“And in my case, I’ve been privileged to doing something that I’ve enjoyed doing for the last 50 odd years.”
He said he was pleased that positive environmental changes had been made during his career and interest in the environment was now growing.
“I started off where I was disappointed, because I think we were losing too much vegetation,” he said.
“I’m happy to say now 50 years later, with new generations coming on, that there is a greater interest in our environment and restoring our landscape.
A big part of Mr Bonney’s career in the last 20 years has been writing educational books, which he said would help teach the next generation.
“We’re all here for a certain time and it is important to leave something behind, and in my case, if books can help new people or young people or people doing land conservation work, we can leave reports or books that they can learn from and also help with the environment,” he said.
Ms Christie was awarded for her efforts in South Australian shorebird conservation.
A week after being inducted into the Hall of Fame, Ms Christie was awarded an Order of Australia on the King’s Birthday public holiday, she told The Border Watch volunteering was a big part of her life.
