The Wildlife Trusts delighted with New Year Honours

Stephanie Hilborne, chief executive of The Wildlife Trusts, has become an OBE for services to nature conservation.

Michael Allen, chair of The Wildlife Trusts, said: “We are all delighted at this signal honour and it is recognition of the enormous commitment and energy which Stephanie always shows in our work.”

Other members of the movement received recognition, including:

Sir Nicholas Bacon, president of Norfolk Wildlife Trust, received an OBE for services to the community in Norfolk. He runs the 5,500 acre Raveningham Estate near Norwich. He was president of the Royal Norfolk Agricultural Association last year and was elected chairman of the RNAA's ruling council in January.

Simon King, The Wildlife Trusts’ vice-president, received an OBE for services to wildlife photography and to conservation.

Farmyard story author and vice-president of Avon Wildlife Trust, Dick King-Smith, 87, received an OBE for services to children's literature. In the past 30 years he has written dozens of books, selling over five million copies in the UK alone, and had one of his stories, The Sheep-Pig, turned into the hit film Babe. The 1995 film catapulted the author, who is to global fame. His first story, The Fox Busters, was published when he was in his 50s in 1978.

Jean Hedley was made an MBE for her tireless service to nature conservation. She was chairman of Hampshire and the Isle of Wight Wildlife Trust for eight years before becoming president of the organisation she joined with her husband Richard in 1962.

Valerie Holt, chair of Nottinghamshire Wildlife Trust and executive secretary and treasurer of the Institute of Fisheries Management (IFM), was given an MBE for services to fisheries management and conservation. She championed the wildlife cause throughout her professional career at the Environment Agency.