Lincolnshire conservationist awarded for life-long loyal service

Lincolnshire Wildlife Trust has announced that volunteer and former staff member, Barrie Wilkinson, has been awarded The Christopher Cadbury Medal from The Wildlife Trusts in recognition of his lifelong commitment and contribution to nature conservation.

The Christopher Cadbury Medal is an annual award given to a member of a Wildlife Trust who has shown dedication to the advancement of nature conservation within the British Islands.

The presentation was made by Liz Bonnin, president of The Wildlife Trusts, at a virtual ceremony.

Barrie has served as both a volunteer and member of staff of the Lincolnshire Wildlife Trust.

He started volunteering as a young naturalist, aged 15, in 1952 and in the 1960s he undertook a pioneering study into public access and management of the Gibraltar Point National Nature Reserve near Skegness.

From the late 1960s until his retirement in 2002, Barrie worked in various roles including field officer giving management and conservation advice to private landowners and carrying out wildlife surveys; progressing to Reserves Manager for some 90 nature reserves.

Now in his 80s, he remains busy as a voluntary reserve manager for three nature reserves, actively involved in recording and management. Always to be seen with camera in hand he has carried out annual fixed-point photography on many trust reserves for over forty years.

Barrie continues to be a champion for nature conservation and has been at the vanguard of many approaches we take for granted.

The late Ted Smith CBE, Lincolnshire Wildlife Trust founder and Cadbury Medal recipient, wrote of Barrie: “A lifetime of dedicated service in the cause of nature conservation undertaken with characteristic modesty and selfless devotion.”

On receiving the award Barrie said: “I’m delighted to receive this medal and to be following in the footsteps of Ted Smith who encouraged me from a young age and became my friend and advisor for nearly 50 years.”