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 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 glob ...

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 for non-fiction and for the shortlist for the 2020 Books Are My Bag Readers' Awards, which he won in the non-fiction category He was celebrated in " Points of Light" in 2018 by the prime minister 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 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 teenager. He is the youngest ever author shortlisted for the Wainwright Prize 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 Guardian'', has presented radio for BBC Radio Ulster and has appeared on

BBC Springwatch ''Springwatch'', ''Autumnwatch'' and ''Winterwatch'', sometimes known collectively as ''The Watches'', are annual BBC television series which chart the fortunes of British wildlife during the changing of the seasons in the United Kingdom. The ...

and BBC '' Countryfile''. He has also written and presented for BBC Radio Four ''Tweet of the Day'' He was a part of "The people's Walk For Wildlife" organised by television naturalist Chris Packham. He is a vocal campaigner on environmental issues. In June 2021 McAnulty began writing a monthly nature column for '' The Irish Times''. He is an ambassador for the RSPCA and the Jane Goodall Institute. 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 after receiving abuse as a result of having raised concerns about Kate Clanchy'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 Wainwright Prize 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