Every year we take a moment to celebrate the people who go above and beyond in the Friends of Parks community. This year we’ve got plenty to celebrate, from our Outstanding Friend Award to some fantastic recognition at the 2026 Queensland Landcare Awards.
Before we look ahead, we want to take a moment for Vincent Watego, last year’s Outstanding Friend Award winner. It’s hard to imagine Friends of Parks without him. Vince leads the Friends of Nerang National Park crew, volunteers with the Quoll Society of Australia, and as of August 2026, sits on our Management Committee. And whenever we’ve got an event on around South East Queensland, there’s a good chance Vince has already put his hand up to help. His care for our parks and the wildlife that call them home shows up in everything he does. With First Nations and Pacific Island heritage, a love of the arts and professional career as a tattoo artist, Vince brings creativity, enthusiasm, connection, and a unique skillset to the Friends ecosystem. We are lucky to have him.
Vince has set a high bar, and this year’s nominee is more than ready to meet it. Emma Hawthorne has won this year’s Outstanding Friend Award, and it’s easy to see why.
Emma is a conservation biologist who has just completed her Masters of Conservation Biology at The University of Queensland (congratulations!). For more than five years she has led Springbrook Weed Busters, a Friends group that meets to learn plant identification, tackle invasive species and survey the birdlife in Springbrook National Park in the Gold Coast hinterland.
She runs monthly weekend regeneration meetups, working alongside QPWS, the local community and neighbouring landholders. She also started a new mid-week group, the Monitoring and Maintenance Crew, which keeps an eye on both plants and birds so the group’s work keeps paying off and keeps improving.
For Emma, it’s all about seeing the results. “I’m a sucker for seeing a tree you planted grow and grow beyond your height. Even better when you see a bird use that tree as a perch!”
Before Springbrook Weed Busters, Emma worked as a ranger at Springbrook and as a tour guide with Southern Cross Tours. These days she does science communication for BirdLife Australia and hosts the Nature Inspired Podcast, where she shares science, environmental news and simple ways to support nature. She believes the more we learn about environmental science, the more we understand, value and care for Country.
Closer to home, Emma chairs FoPQ’s Engagement and Fundraising Subcommittee, helping raise funds for member group activities. Emma’s work has been getting noticed further afield too, as one of several Friends of Parks nominees at this year’s Queensland Landcare Awards. And two of our groups came home with some well-deserved recognition.
Congratulations to Friends of Tallebudgera Creek Conservation Park who received a highly commended award in the coastcare category! Since 2021, the group’s 107 volunteers have removed more than 800 cocos palms and restored over 80% of the park. Koalas have come back for the first time in 20 years, and 42 seedlings of the vulnerable rainforest tree Cryptocarya foetida have popped up naturally since the weeds were cleared. As the group says, “We didn’t create this forest. We simply gave nature the opportunity to recover.”
Congratulations also to Patrick Babrant, Highly Commended in the NextGen Landcare category. Patrick leads Friends of David Fleay Conservation Park, which has had a big few months, from unveiling its new logo at the Caring for our Environment event to hosting our recent ecological health check training. Patrick couldn’t attend the ceremony as he is running marathons across India to raise awareness for air quality and plastic pollution, demonstrating his commitment to the health of our planet as a whole.
It was brilliant to see so many Friends of Parks names among the nominations, including Brisbane Intrepid Landcare, Emma Green, Emma Hawthorne, Jim Napier, Len Lowry, Noosa and Districts Landcare, Vincent Watego, our own Jess Lovegrove-Walsh, and even Friends of Parks Queensland itself. If you were nominated, did the nominating, or just turned up with gloves on and a good attitude, thank you for everything you do for our parks this year.
Want to get involved? Today marks the start of FrogID week and there are plenty of events across South-East Queensland this weekend! Hop over to our event calendar to find out more.