Fish & Game’s New Zealand Council Chairman Lindsay Lyons says Ian’s work with game birds had been a passion for most of his life, stretching back to the 70s when he was a volunteer with the Wellington Acclimatisation Society.

“Ian also started the country’s first pheasant rearing syndicate, and was a founding member of Ducks Unlimited, which lead to the formation of the Waikato chapter of the organisation.  

“The funding generated through a variety of activities under Ian’s guidance, was instrumental in purchasing and enhancing wetlands throughout New Zealand.”

Ian’s strong history with waterfowl and habitat protection also extended to rare native species.

“This included raising and releasing brown teal on Great Barrier Island, and pushing for far better protection and monitoring of whio, the blue mountain duck.”

Ian had been a valued member of the Eastern Fish & Game Council over six years, his “networking and strategic thinking and knowledge about waterfowl habitats, gamebird populations and hunting assisted the council immeasurably.”

His passion for upland game hunting had been a factor in the council taking steps to increase its understanding of pheasant habitats in Bay of Plenty forests, to the benefit of a large number of upland game hunters.

Lindsay also noted Ian’s role in bringing Fish & Game and the local farming community closer together, partly through his keen involvement in the Ballance Farm Environment Awards.

He was instrumental in getting Fish & Game staff involved as “on farm assessors” for the awards, which had helped build positive relationships with the agricultural sector across the Bay of Plenty.

“This had positive flow-on benefits outside the awards in that Fish & Game staff have worked successfully with farmers on private wetland developments, and have created and restored many hectares of wetland habitats across the region.”

Over the years Ian had been a strong advocate for collaborating and working more closely with the agricultural sector on water quality issues.

“I would like to think that finally now, we have seen a change in the wind, and that going into the future we will work more closely alongside the sector in promoting and assisting with sustainable farming.”