Roy Sloan believes when awards are given out, they are usually based on achievements by a group of people.
"I guess my award should be for having the ability to keep good people around me to make these things work."
He has been involved with the Fiordland Wapiti Foundation (FWF) since 2005.
He was president (2012-22) and is currently general manager.
Mr Sloan has worked to preserve and maintain the Fiordland wapiti deer as a high-quality, low-quantity hunting resource while preserving Fiordland’s native flora and fauna.
Working alongside the Department of Conservation, he helped to establish a world-class management system for the herd.
The deer management focused on removing 18,000 red deer and hybrids from the 175,000ha area while preserving native flora and fauna.
"Other parts of the world talk about our project in Fiordland as being probably the leading project of its kind in the world.
"It’s quite an achievement for the team. They’re a good team of people and we are pretty proud of what we’ve pulled off."
Wapiti were released into the ranges 120 years ago and its management produced a low number of quality trophy wapiti while protecting native species.
The FWF has been instrumental in preserving the whio and other native birds through this programme.
"The trick is keeping the national park in such a good state that we can have our cake and eat it too."
A FWF and WithWild partnership provided venison to New Zealand restaurants and an additional 18 tonnes of Wapiti venison was supplied to foodbanks during the Covid-19 pandemic.
