The Dunedin author, photographer and conservationist was awarded the New Zealand Antarctic Society Conservation Trophy yesterday, which is a miniature emperor penguin made from African walnut wood.
It was carved by Patrick Malcahy and was later presented to the New Zealand Antarctic Society to be used as an award for people who showed concern for the future of Antarctica and their efforts to conserve it.
Despite winning many awards over the years, Mr Peat said this one was "extra special".
"A penguin, made out of African walnut - that takes the cake for me.
"It is extra special. It’s not about the money or anything. It’s about being recognised for doing the right thing by the environment.
"It’s quite prestigious too, given the names that are already on the trophy.
"There’s an illustrious list of people who have previously won it since 1972.
"It’s a great honour to be chosen for this trophy."
New Zealand Antarctic Society South Island vice-president Hubertien Wichers said the award was given to people who had made a real difference in conservation of nature.
"Neville has been instrumental in the Unesco World Heritage listing of the subantarctic islands and we’re very fortunate that Neville has done this.
"He was the right person, at the right time, with the right skills to promote such conservation."
New Zealand’s subantarctic islands represent one of the last great wildernesses anywhere in the world and are located hundreds of kilometres to the south and southeast of the South Island.
They are home to a range of rare species, such as Antipodean and Gibson’s albatross, which breed nowhere else on Earth.
The islands represent the best of the world’s natural heritage and rate alongside the Grand Canyon and Mt Everest.
Mr Peat specialises in writing about natural history, notably that of southern New Zealand and New Zealand’s subantarctic islands.
In the 1970s, before global warming came to prominence, he highlighted the threat to the world’s weather patterns from the use of fossil fuels and warned of its impact on the Antarctic continent.
He has written more than 40 titles since the late 1970s and has won awards for many of them.
Just last month, the 77-year-old was given the Prime Minister’s Award for literary achievement.
Despite good things coming in threes, he was not expecting a knighthood "or anything like that" to follow.
"I’ve already got my gong. It’s an MNZM. I don’t need a knighthood, no."
Mr Peat said he had no plans to retire from writing just yet.
He is busy working on a memoir about his time working in Tonga in the early 1970s.
"It’s telling stories about my time as editor of the Tongan Chronicle - a weekly newspaper.
"It’s about island life and running a busy paper. There were some terrific stories that we were able to report on."
Ms Wichers said the Conservation Trophy was not presented annually and would be presented again whenever a new recipient was selected by the society.
