King’s Birthday Honours 2024: Dr Murray Williams made Officer of New Zealand Order of Merit

Dr Murray Williams has been appointed an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit. Photo / Mark Coote

Dr Murray Williams has been made an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit in the King’s Birthday Honours for his services to wildlife conservation and science.

Williams, from Paekākāriki, has been involved in wildlife science and conservation for more than 60 years – starting in his early 20s.

He became the leading researcher of New Zealand’s living and extinct waterfowl species, and his research was published nationally and internationally.

He has been involved in science, leadership, organisational and editorial roles with several professional organisations, including the New Zealand Ecological Society, Birds New Zealand and the International Ornithological Congress between the 1970s and 2000s.

Williams’ early career with the New Zealand Wildlife Service allowed him to research gamebirds and the development of science-based approaches for the management and hunting of game waterfowl for Fish and Game Councils.

He also helped establish and implement conservation programmes within the Department of Conservation (DoC) for New Zealand’s endangered waterfowl, most notably the whio (blue duck).

Williams was instrumental in helping get the blue duck numbers up – and even provided the photo that was used on the original $10 note.

He has also been involved with DoC’s Kākāpō Recovery Group and edited a compendium on the history and current knowledge of kākāpō as of 2006.

Williams developed and taught New Zealand’s only postgraduate Master of Science degree in ecological restoration at Victoria University of Wellington from 2005 to 2010 and served as a trustee of Ngā Manu Wildlife Trust in Waikanae from 2015 to 2020.

He said despite all the work he had done in the past, the highlight of his career was seeing the rapid rise in commitment and expertise of community conservation and restoration groups today.

Groups like the one that voluntarily maintained Whareroa Farm, near Paekākāriki, were hugely motivated, he said.

Motivating people to get involved in conservation and teaching them about it was what Williams wanted from his work.