James Robert Lynch (born 11 September 1947) is a New Zealand cartoonist and conservationist. Lynch was born in 1947 in Whangarei. He grew up on a farm in Hukerenui. His first cartoons were published in the '' Taranaki Daily News'' in 1979 (appearing weekly until 1986) and he produced fortnightly cartoons for the ''

New Zealand Times ''The New Zealand Times'' was a New Zealand daily newspaper published in Wellington from 1874 to 1927. Background The newspaper was founded by Julius Vogel, who had had involvement with newspapers as an editor or owner since his goldfield days i ...

'' from 1981 to 1985. He was the runner-up in the New Zealand Cartoonist of the Year category at the Qantas Press Awards in 1983. Lynch's cartoons appeared under the name 'James' because "I didn't want to go to my boss and ask if I could have secondary employment as a political cartoonist". Lynch is possibly better known as a conservationist and founder of Zealandia. He was the President of the Wellington Branch of

Forest and Bird Forest & Bird ( mi, Te Reo o te Taiao), also known by its formal name as the Royal Forest and Bird Protection Society of New Zealand, is an environmental organisation specialising in the protection and conservation of New Zealand's indigenous f ...

from 1991. In the

2001 Queen's Birthday Honours The Queen's Birthday Honours 2001 was announced on 16 June 2001 for the United Kingdom (including Northern Ireland), New Zealand (4 June), Australia (11 June), Barbados, Bahamas, Grenada, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Tuvalu, Saint Lucia, Sai ...

, Lynch was awarded the Queen's Service Medal for community service. In 2022, Lynch was commissioned by Wellington Regional Council to produce a feasibility study of establishing a wildlife sanctuary in the Wainuiomata Water Collection Area. The study found that the project was "technically and practically feasible". The name given to the proposed sanctuary is Puketahā.

References

External links

James Lynch on DigitalNZ
1947 births Living people New Zealand cartoonists New Zealand conservationists Recipients of the Queen's Service Medal {{cartoonist-stub