Awarded a Fellowship of the Nature Foundation (SA).
Statement in support of the nomination of Mr Dene Cordes PSM for Australian Honours
October 2016
I am delighted to write in support of Mr Dene Cordes for consideration for Australian Honours.
As chair of the Reserves Advisory Committee, a statutary committee under the National Parks and Wildlife Act, for many years and President of both the Nature Conservation Society of South Australia and Nature Foundation SA for much of the period 1980 to the present, I am very well placed to assess and appreciate the extrordinary contribution that Dene has made to national parks and nature conservation in South Australia.
It is important to note that while Dene was employed by the SA Department for Conservation and Environment to advance the involvement of the community with national parks, his outstanding contribution comes on top of that professional role for a very long period from the 1980s to the present. I would confidently say that no one in South Australia has contributed in a voluntary capacity more consistently and for such a long period as Dene Cordes. He is held in the highest regard by the thousands of members of Friends of Parks groups and members of Nature Foundation SA and the many other voluntary groups that he has assisted over the years.
In specific terms, He assisted the formation of the National Parks Foundation of SA (now Nature Foundation SA) in 1981 which has become one of Australia's most successful community nature conservation groups. He joined the governing Council of Nature Foundation in the 1980s and has been involved with the Foundation continuously in various roles since then. He has assisted in more recent years in the formation of the Friends of Nature for NFSA which has attracted community support for the Foundation. Dene is always ready to assist the Foundation in its activities just as he has done with a range of other community groups including the National Trust, Friends of Parks and the Kangaroo Island Pioneers Association that he largely founded.
Dene's interest in voluntary community activities spans a wide range of aspects including cultural heritage, significant historic buildings, community involvement in national parks and nature conservation generally and the history of local places and regions. He has written extensively on these topics and just as importantly played a hands-on role in campaigning to conserve places and buildings of great historic interest in SA. I have personally shared involvement with Dene in campaigns to save important buildings in national parks which were in danger of demolition due to the costs of maintenance. These were successful due largely to Dene's dogged persistence and calm decency in advancing arguments concerning the value to society of retaining important historic remains.
In summary, Dene Cordes has made an extraordinary contribution in an entirely selfless manner to a wide range of heritage, national parks and nature conservation areas over a remarkably long period. He is driven by personal commitment and not reward and deserves the thanks of the nation for such an important and generous contribution. It is a pleasure to recommend him for Australian Honours recognition.
David Moyle AM
Vice President, Nature Foundation SA (Inc)