Morgan Parry, founder of WWF Cymru who died earlier this year is recognised in WWF’s International Roll of Honour for his outstanding contribution to WWF and for his pioneering work in making Wales a more sustainable country.
WWF’s Roll of Honour was announced at this week’s WWF International Award Conference in Foz do Iguaçu, Brazil. The list has been established to commemorate the great service of exceptional people to the cause of conservation and WWF.
Speaking from the event, Jim Leape, Director General of WWF international said: “At the request of many of Morgan’s friends and former colleagues at WWF Cymru, a special tribute has been paid to Morgan.”
“In commemoration of his outstanding achievements including his pioneering work in integrating the ecological footprint as an indicator of sustainable development in Wales and his tireless work to establish innovative collaborations with the Welsh government to tackle environmental threats and his exemplary commitment to WWF’s values and vision Morgan has been added to the WWF International Roll of Honour.”
Anne Meikle, Head of WWF Cymru said: “Morgan was a remarkable man and it’s fitting that his outstanding work is recognised by WWF International in this way. His efforts were not only for the benefit of Wales– they were aimed at achieving a vision of a world where we live differently while respecting the planet’s limits. It was a vision which he sought to exemplify in Wales and while his early death means he wasn’t able to finish what he started, I believe that the many heartfelt tributes show that he has inspired many others to continue this work.”
As founder and head of WWF Cymru, chair of the Countryside Council for Wales, and latterly a member of the board of the newly formed Natural Resources Wales, Morgan played a key role in shaping the commitment to sustainable development that has been at the heart of the Welsh devolution process.
He supported and challenged successive administrations in the application of this duty as set out in the Government of Wales Act 1998, most notably through his influence on the current Sustainable Development scheme, One Wales: One Planet. This is based on the work that he pioneered with WWF Cymru through advocating the ecological footprint as an indicator of sustainable development.
Morgan was also a man who most definitely ‘walked the talk’, he calculated his personal ecological footprint to be 1.84, compared with the Welsh average of 3.14. He abandoned his car and took to public transport – quite hard when his home was in rural north Wales, with his work largely based in the south. Yet, as he said: “Driving the kids to school would take three minutes whereas walking them takes twenty – that’s more time that I get to spend with them.”
Earlier in his career, Morgan’s roles included Director of the North Wales Wildlife Trust and managing country parks, nature reserves, visitor attractions and cycle routes for Gwynedd County Council.
He had also been a Board Member of Friends of the Earth and a member of the Environment Agency’s North Wales Area Committee. He served on a number of Welsh Government advisory committees and working groups and was a regular contributor to TV and radio programmes on the environment.
