Mayor’s Award for committee member

Robin Hart has been awarded a prestigious medal in recognition of the huge amount of service he provides for conservation and ecology, on behalf of very many organisations. Friends of Petersfield Heath are fortunate to have Robin, a founder member of the Friends, on our Committee, where he steers us with expert advice about wildlife and its management.

Robin had met with Katie Pitt, previous Mayor of Petersfield, back in 1996, when the opportunity presented by the golfers leaving the heath, presented itself.  This led to a Heath Working Party, which looked into the future of the heath and its management, and eventually formed the Friends in 1998.

Robin’s main achievement over the past two years has been the completion of an i-Tree survey, which was supported by EHDC, SDNPA and the Council, to date only the second completed i-Tree project in the region (after Lewes, East Sussex). Robin led a survey team to cover 177 trees, totally in the public area of the Conservation zone of Petersfield, some taking up to 40 minutes to record all the essential data. Andy Moffatt and Tony Struthers co-ordinated the surveys, which involved 40 volunteers in total.

In addition, Robin records bird sightings to the British Trust for Ornithology, Petersfield Wildlife Group and the Hampshire Biodiversity Information Centre. He says he may have filed over 13,000 observations to date!

Robin also acts as an expert on a number of Town Council projects, notably the Pond Management Group, which will oversee a major restoration of the pond edges.

Robin Hart with Mayor’s Award