Harold Reginald (Reg) Johnson (2 January 1921 – 22 May 2011) was an Australian

cartographer Cartography (; from , 'papyrus, sheet of paper, map'; and , 'write') is the study and practice of making and using maps. Combining science, aesthetics and technique, cartography builds on the premise that reality (or an imagined reality) can ...

amateur An amateur () is generally considered a person who pursues an avocation independent from their source of income. Amateurs and their pursuits are also described as popular, informal, autodidacticism, self-taught, user-generated, do it yourself, DI ...

ornithologist Ornithology, from Ancient Greek ὄρνις (''órnis''), meaning "bird", and -logy from λόγος (''lógos''), meaning "study", is a branch of zoology dedicated to the study of birds. Several aspects of ornithology differ from related discip ...

and

environmentalist Environmentalism is a broad Philosophy of life, philosophy, ideology, and social movement about supporting life, habitats, and surroundings. While environmentalism focuses more on the environmental and nature-related aspects of Green politics, g ...

Early years

Johnson was born in

Ararat, Victoria Ararat () is a town in the Central Highlands (Victoria), Central Highlands region in Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia, about west of Melbourne, on the Western Highway, Victoria, Western Highway on the eastern slopes of the Ararat Hills ...

on 2 January 1921. He was the first child of John Thomas Johnson, a carpenter and Anzac veteran, and Dora Evelyn Johnson (née Clark).Johnson, Reg. (1991), Boiled Wheat and Rabbit: Autobiographical Reminiscences, His father died when he was seven years old; his mother remarried and the family lived in a succession of places in Victoria's Mallee region, with Johnson attending nine different schools. At the age of 16 he began work as a trainee draughtsman with the Victorian Department of Crown Lands and Survey, in which he was to serve for 37 years apart from his war service.

War service

In 1942 Johnson enlisted in the

Royal Australian Air Force The Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) is the principal Air force, aerial warfare force of Australia, a part of the Australian Defence Force (ADF) along with the Royal Australian Navy and the Australian Army. Constitutionally the Governor-Gener ...

. After pilot training he was sent to Britain and attached to the RAF in which he flew Lancaster bombers with 218 Squadron.

Environmentalism

Back in Melbourne after the war, Johnson returned to his job. In 1948 he married Kathleen Hooppell. He was an active member of the Bird Observers Club. With other club members he worked hard towards protecting the critically endangered

helmeted honeyeater The helmeted honeyeater (''Lichenostomus melanops cassidix'') is a passerine bird in the honeyeater family. It is a distinctive and critically endangered subspecies of the yellow-tufted honeyeater, that exists in the wild only as a tiny relict ...

, found only in one small locality 50 km east of Melbourne. This involved both lobbying the state government to halt private land clearing on public land, and the physical labour of habitat rehabilitation work. His efforts led to the establishment of the Yellingbo Nature Conservation Reserve in 1965 and the designation of the helmeted honeyeater as the state's bird emblem. In 1969 Johnson was instrumental in organising the successful campaign to preserve the land now protected in the

Little Desert National Park The Little Desert National Park is a national park in the Wimmera Mallee region of Victoria, Australia. The national park is situated near Dimboola, approximately west of Melbourne and extends from the Wimmera River in the east to the South ...

in north-west Victoria. In 1974 he took early retirement from the Victorian

Public Service A public service or service of general (economic) interest is any service intended to address the needs of aggregate members of a community, whether provided directly by a public sector agency, via public financing available to private busin ...

and became the executive director of the Conservation Council of Victoria. For many years Johnson, along with Ellen McCulloch, a nature writer and officer of the Bird Observers Club, had lobbied the Victorian Government to sponsor a program to promote and assist in environmental conservation on private land. This eventually succeeded in 1981 with the launch of the Land for Wildlife scheme. In 1988 Johnson was awarded the Medal of the

Order of Australia The Order of Australia is an Australian honours and awards system, Australian honour that recognises Australian citizens and other persons for outstanding achievement and service. It was established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Monarch ...

for services to the environment. He died at the age of 90 following an accidental fall, while sharing his bird data with students.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Johnson, Reg Australian ornithologists Australian environmentalists Australian cartographers 1921 births 2011 deaths Recipients of the Medal of the Order of Australia Royal Australian Air Force personnel of World War II Australian World War II pilots Accidental deaths from falls Australian World War II bomber pilots