Dara Seamus McAnulty (born 2004) is a Northern Irish naturalist, writer and environmental campaigner. He is the youngest ever winner of the

RSPB Medal The RSPB Medal is awarded annually by the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds. According to the RSPB: The RSPB Medal is the Society's most prestigious award. It is presented to an individual in recognition of wild bird protection and countr ...

and received the Wainwright Prize for UK nature writing in 2020 after being the youngest author to be shortlisted for the award. He is also the youngest author to be long-listed for the 2020

Baillie Gifford Prize The Baillie Gifford Prize for Non-Fiction, formerly the Samuel Johnson Prize, is an annual British book prize for the best non-fiction writing in the English language. It was founded in 1999 following the demise of the NCR Book Award. With its m ...

for non-fiction and for the shortlist for the 2020

Books Are My Bag Readers' Awards The Books Are My Bag Readers' Awards are annual literary awards presented by the Booksellers Association in the UK and Ireland since 2016. They are sponsored by National Book Tokens. History and administration The awards were launched at the 2016 ...

, which he won in the non-fiction category He was celebrated in "

Points of Light Points of Light is an international nonprofit, nonpartisan organization headquartered in Georgia, United States dedicated to engaging more people and resources in solving serious social problems through voluntary service. Each year, Points of ...

" in 2018 by the

prime minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...

for his work in connecting young people to nature. His campaigning work against

raptor persecution In the United Kingdom, raptor persecution is a crime against wildlife. The offence includes poisoning, shooting, trapping, and nest destruction or disturbance of birds of prey. International context There is a long history of game bird shootin ...

and

biodiversity loss Biodiversity loss includes the worldwide extinction of different species, as well as the local reduction or loss of species in a certain habitat, resulting in a loss of biological diversity. The latter phenomenon can be temporary or permanent, de ...

earned him the RSPB Medal for Conservation in 2019, the award has been previously won by naturalists such as Sir

David Attenborough Sir David Frederick Attenborough (; born 8 May 1926) is an English broadcaster, biologist, natural historian and author. He is best known for writing and presenting, in conjunction with the BBC Natural History Unit, the nine natural histor ...

. His debut book ''Diary of a Young Naturalist'' which chronicles the turning of his fourteenth year, was released in May 2020. It details his intense connection to the natural world as an

autistic The autism spectrum, often referred to as just autism or in the context of a professional diagnosis autism spectrum disorder (ASD) or autism spectrum condition (ASC), is a neurodevelopmental condition (or conditions) characterized by difficulti ...

teenager. He is the youngest ever author shortlisted for the

Wainwright Prize The Wainwright Prize is a literary prize awarded annually for the best work of general outdoors, nature and UK-based travel writing. In 2020 it was split into the Wainwright Prize for UK nature writing and the Wainwright Prize for writing on globa ...

for UK Nature Writing, and he won the 2020 prize. He was also awarded the An Post Irish Book Award for Newcomer of the Year. In 2021, he was shortlisted for the Dalkey Literary Award (Emerging Writer). and won the

British Book Award The British Book Awards or Nibbies are literary awards for the best UK writers and their works, administered by ''The Bookseller''. The awards have had several previous names, owners and sponsors since being launched in 1990, including the National ...

for narrative non-fiction. He has written for ''

The Big Issue ''The Big Issue'' is a street newspaper founded by John Bird and Gordon Roddick in September 1991 and published in four continents. ''The Big Issue'' is one of the UK's leading social businesses and exists to offer homeless people, or indivi ...

'', ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'', has presented radio for

BBC Radio Ulster BBC Radio Ulster ( ga, BBC Raidió Uladh) is a Northern Irish radio station owned and operated by BBC Northern Ireland, a division of the BBC. It was established on New Year's Day 1975, replacing what had been an opt-out of BBC Radio 4. It is ...

and has appeared on BBC Springwatch and BBC ''

Countryfile ''Countryfile'' is a British television programme which airs weekly on BBC One and reports on rural, agricultural, and environmental issues in the United Kingdom. The programme is currently presented by John Craven, Adam Henson, Matt Baker, T ...

''. He has also written and presented for

BBC Radio Four BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC that replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. It broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history from the BBC' ...

''Tweet of the Day'' He was a part of "The people's Walk For Wildlife" organised by television naturalist

Chris Packham Christopher Gary Packham CBE (born 4 May 1961) is an English naturalist, nature photographer, television presenter and author, best known for his television work including the CBBC children's nature series ''The Really Wild Show'' from 1986 t ...

. He is a vocal campaigner on environmental issues. In June 2021 McAnulty began writing a monthly nature column for ''

The Irish Times ''The Irish Times'' is an Irish daily broadsheet newspaper and online digital publication. It launched on 29 March 1859. The editor is Ruadhán Mac Cormaic. It is published every day except Sundays. ''The Irish Times'' is considered a newspaper ...

''. He is an ambassador for the

RSPCA The Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA) is a charity operating in England and Wales that promotes animal welfare. The RSPCA is funded primarily by voluntary donations. Founded in 1824, it is the oldest and largest an ...

and the

Jane Goodall Institute The Jane Goodall Institute (JGI) is a global wildlife and environment conservation organization headquartered in Washington, DC. It was founded in 1977 by English primatologist Jane Goodall. The institute has offices in more than twenty-five coun ...

. He lives with his family near the

Mourne Mountains The Mourne Mountains ( ; ga, Beanna Boirche), also called the Mournes or Mountains of Mourne, are a granite mountain range in County Down in the south-east of Northern Ireland. They include the highest mountains in Northern Ireland, the high ...

, Northern Ireland. In mid-2021, McAnulty left

Twitter Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...

after receiving abuse as a result of having raised concerns about

Kate Clanchy Kate Clanchy MBE (born 1965 in Glasgow, Scotland) is a British poet, freelance writer and teacher. Early life She was born in 1965 in Glasgow to medieval historian Michael Clanchy and teacher Joan Clanchy (née Milne). She was educated at Geo ...

's descriptions of autistic students and students of colour in her book ''Some Kids I Taught and What They Taught Me''. His second book, ''Wild Child'', was shortlisted for the 2022

for Children's Writing on Nature and Conservation. McAnulty was awarded the

British Empire Medal The British Empire Medal (BEM; formerly British Empire Medal for Meritorious Service) is a British and Commonwealth award for meritorious civil or military service worthy of recognition by the Crown. The current honour was created in 1922 to ...

(BEM) in the

2023 New Year Honours The 2023 New Year Honours are appointments by some of the 15 Commonwealth realms to various orders and honours to recognise and reward good works by citizens of those countries. The New Year Honours are awarded as part of the New Year celebration ...

for services to the environment and people with autism spectrum disorder.

Selected publications

* *

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mcanulty, Dara 2004 births Living people 21st-century male writers 21st-century non-fiction writers from Northern Ireland 21st-century writers from Northern Ireland British nature writers Environmentalists from Northern Ireland Male writers from Northern Ireland Non-fiction environmental writers People on the autism spectrum Writers from Northern Ireland Recipients of the British Empire Medal