Julian Fitter has been made a member of the New Zealand Order of Merit in recognition of more than 50 years of service to conservation and wildlife.

The Katikati author said his lifelong interest in conservation, the environment, wildlife, and writing began at an early age.

“My father was a naturalist in the UK and wrote a number of quite well-known books on British natural history, so it was a part of my life from the earliest days.

“The interest in natural history and nature has been there the whole time.”

He said being recognised in the 2025 New Year Honours was “a tick for the importance of the environment in our society”.

“It’s a nice gesture and I think it’s a good way of saying the environment does have some value,” he said.

Fitter was a founding trustee of the United Kingdom-based Falklands Conservation Trust in 1979, serving time as vice-president.

He spent 15 years in the Galapagos Islands, famed for its wealth of unique animal species and as the source for Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution.

Fitter helped establish the Galapagos Conservation Trust in 1997 and the Friends of Galapagos New Zealand organisation in 2008.

Julian Fitter said the New Year Honour recognition is 'a tick of importance for the environment'. Photo / Joel Ford

He said his experience in the islands was “fairly informative”.

“I had a slightly interesting OE. It took me from the UK to the Galapagos and I went there as a volunteer crew on a sailing boat.”

“I quite like setting things up, and I was instrumental in setting up the Galapagos Conservation Trust which is one of the most important conservation groups in the Galapagos now.”

His first book Wildlife of the Galapagos was published in 2000, and he said it still sells well.

“It doesn’t sell as much as it should but it’s the standard guidebook for the Galapagos and, 25 years on, it’s quite useful.”

Fitter has authored several books including Albatross, Their World Their Ways (2008) and three on New Zealand wildlife.

“When you come to New Zealand, something like 80% of our native species are found only in New Zealand, so we have something that no one else in the world has.

“We have amazing biodiversity here, and we don’t appreciate or don’t make full use of it, so I think we need an education programme to get people to appreciate what we do have.”

Fitter helped to establish the Maketu Ongatoro Wetland Society in 2009 to protect the breeding population of Northern New Zealand dotterel on Maketū Spit and also established the Bay Conservation Alliance.

Julian Fitter helped to establish the Maketū Ongatoro Wetland Society in 2009 to protect the breeding population of Northern New Zealand dotterel on Maketū Spit. Photo / Alan Gibson

“We grew [the society] from nothing and they now employ four full-time people.”

He said there are lots of smaller groups around the country contributing to conservation improvements and education, but they needed more support to increase their impact.

“There needs to be help collectively from the Department of Conservation, councils, and community input.

“If you’ve got the community on board, then on the whole, communities are supportive of helping their environment.

“Bay Conservation was designed to bring people together, join forces and work together. In almost everything we do, working together is much more effective than working alone.”

Fitter pushed hard for Bay Conservation to be set up and now the organisation has 33 members.

He hoped receiving this honour would add a “little bit more weight” to his messages, saying education is key because “once there is an educated population, they’ll make the right decisions”.

“I’m getting to the end of the road, I don’t know exactly where the road goes from here, but conservation and the environment is a very complex picture.

“The job is definitely not done, there’s a lot to do.”

Kaitlyn Morrell is a multimedia journalist for the Bay of Plenty Times and Rotorua Daily Post. She has lived in the region for several years and studied journalism at Massey University.