A westcountry columnist’s dedication to conservation has been recognised at a national awards ceremony.

Trevor Beer, who writes a daily Nature Watch column for the Western Morning News, was awarded the David Bellamy Prize by the British Conservation Society in recognition of his lifelong contribution to conservation.

The presentation took place at a ceremony in Barnstaple Guildhall where Trevor was handed his award by North Devon MP Nick Harvey.

The prize was the culmination of more than forty years work for the environment – including running his own nature sanctuary.

Two years ago, Trevor played a major part in launching the Western Morning News’ Wildlife Millenium Project which aimed to convert 1,000 acres of land to dedicated wildlife havens.

Readers were urged to dedicate stretches of their own land – and the figure now stands at 6,000 acres of converted land.

Trevor visits all the sites in person to advise readers how their land can best be transformed.

He said: “We started with an initial target of 1,000 acres but we went past that in about four weeks.

“People’s reaction has been really incredible. I never believed the scheme could generate such a response.”

As well as writing his column for the WMN, Trevor has written 15 wildlife and natural history guidebooks.

His previous awards include the Gavin Maxwell award for the conservation of otters and the John Major award for conservation.

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