Hugh Wilson

Hugh Dale Wilson (born 1945) is a New Zealand botanist. He has written and illustrated a number of books about New Zealand plants, and manages Hinewai Reserve on Banks Peninsula. Early life and education Wilson was born in Timaru, and brought up in Christchurch by parents keen on the outdoors and camping; he attributes his love for birds to a family holiday to Stewart Island. He went to Elmwood District (later Normal) School, where he began drawing birds at an early age. Planting New Zealand native plants in his backyard to attract birds sparked his interest in botany. At St Andrews College he was Dux in 1962. He taught for Voluntary Service Overseas, the British scheme on which Volunteer Service Abroad was later to be based, in Sarawak on Borneo. After attending the University of Canterbury, he studied the botany of Stewart Island / Rakiura, and then the Aoraki / Mount Cook region, for several years. This was followed by a botanical survey of Banks Peninsula. He was awarded an honorary doctorate by Lincoln University in 2019. Banks Peninsula PNAP The Department of Lands and Survey had a programme, known as the Protected Natural Areas Programme (PNAP), of identifying and protecting examples of plant life, animals, ecosystems and landscape features that make New Zealand unique. The PNAP was established in 1983, and the country was divided into 268 ecological districts, grouped into 85 ecological regions. Banks Peninsula was one of those regions, with Port Hills, Herbert and Akaroa making up its three districts.