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The Loder Cup for excellence in advocating for New Zealand’s indigenous flora was awarded to John Barkla in Dunedin on Thursday.
Department of Conservation director general Penny Nelson presented the award to John, who was nominated by the New Zealand Plant Conservation Network, with supporting letters from several botanical societies, conservation boards, tertiary institutions and researchers.
John worked for DOC for more than 30 years in a range of roles in Whanganui and Otago and continues to serve on the New Zealand Plant Conservation Network as he has done for many years (three of them as President) and has been a member of the Botanical Society of Otago for more than two decades.
He continues to support DOC with threatened plant conservation in the Otago region and is a highly respected field botanist who has been a panel member of the New Zealand Threat Classification System team assessing the threat status of vascular plants. He has also supported regional threat classification assessments.
“John’s passion for plants is legendary,” says Penny. “He volunteers extensively in his own time, going in to battle for plants that others might overlook, such as small leaved tree daisies (Olearia) and Inland Cresses (Lepidium).
“Recently he discovered a new population of Craspedia ‘Cape Saunders’ on Otago Peninsula. He has also rediscovered rare plants such as Veronica lilliputiana, and Myosotis rakiura on the Otago Peninsula and the only known extant population of a small daisy – now known as Solenogyne christensenii – near Lake Wanaka.
“Thanks to John’s successful seedling trials we also know a lot more about how to propagate the Nationally Vulnerable Olearia hectorii,” says Penny.
“John is an outstanding botanist who generously shares his extensive botanical knowledge with others. I’m told he has collected more than 700 specimens for herbaria – housed in seven different institutions.
“His contribution to citizen science is enormous – making more than 25,000 observations of his own and helping confirm identification for another 76,000 observations.
“After being professionally and personally involved in plant conservation for more than four decades, John has made an enormous difference for our native plants and is thoroughly deserving of this award.”
One of Aotearoa New Zealand’s oldest conservation awards, the Loder Cup was donated by avid plant collector and enthusiast Gerald Loder in 1926 to encourage and honour New Zealanders who work to investigate, promote, retain and cherish New Zealand’s indigenous flora.
