Stanley Johnson (1959, English) receives awards for protecting wildlife and nature
Exeter alumnus Stanley Johnson (1959, English) received two awards for his work to protect wildlife and nature in 2015.
In October 2015 he was awarded the RSPB Medal by the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds for his role in the creation of one of the cornerstones of Europe’s nature conservation policy – the Habitats Directive (1992). The medal is the charity’s most prestigious award.
In December 2015 he was recognised as a “Leader for a Living Planet” by the World Wide Fund for Nature, again for his work on the Habitats Directive. The “Leaders for a Living Planet” award publicly celebrates people who fight to protect nature and profiles their sustainability and environmental leadership and the inspiring example they show to others.
On receiving the RSPB Medal Mr Johnson expressed his great appreciation of the honour accorded to him. He said: “As an environmental campaigner, I have worked for many years with the RSPB, and in particular have welcomed their support during my Brussels years as we pushed for the adoption of EU-wide measures for nature protection, notably with the birds and habitats directives.
“The development of NATURA 2000, Europe’s nature protection network, is one of the EU’s success stories. I applaud the efforts of the RSPB and the Europe-wide consortium of NGOs who are now more determined than ever to resist the current ill-conceived attempts to weaken or rewrite this vital EU legislation.”
You can read more about the RSPB Medal here and the “Leaders for a Living Planet” award here.