In exciting Northern Territory branch news, Barry Conde was nominated for the Environment & Conservation Award at the Territory Natural Resource Management 2023 Awards on 22 November 2023.
James Pike from Land for Wildlife nominated Barry for the award, highlighting that Barry has become the “go-to” man when it comes to native stingless bees in the greater Darwin region. Barry has worked tirelessly to increase public awareness of native bees, their importance in the ecosystem and to encourage native bee keeping within the community.
Barry has fostered his love for native bees through volunteering his time at workshops and events to be able to support the local bee community. The development of his own interactive bee hives allows for better community engagement, local purchasing of equipment and maintenance. With land development and habitat loss being a major threat to our native bees, James highlight-ed that Barry’s hive designs along with the next wave of beekeepers play an important role in supporting healthy bee colonies to develop, grow and thrive in local habitats.
Barry continues to present at workshops and engage at community events, using his viewing hives and home collected honey to help inspire the next generation of meliponists (stingless beekeepers) and help raise awareness of the importance of our native stingless bees in the ecosystem and help drive their conservation.
Congratulations Barry on your well-deserved nomination for this prestigious award! You have certainly been a wealth of knowledge for all us members locally.
Photo: Barry Conde and James Pike at the Land for Wild-life Native Bee Workshop