Sue Lennox, one of the Great Eastern Ranges’ founding partners and long-term supporters, has had her passion and commitment to conservation recognised by being awarded a Member of the Order of Australia.

Co-founder of the environmental not-for-profit organisation OzGREEN, Sue was included in this year’s Australia Day honours list “for significant service to water conservation and the environment through education and networks.”

Sue’s involvement in GER extends back to the establishment phase of the initiative during which she served as an enthusiastic, highly committed and effective foundational partner.

In 2010, Sue and her Bellingen-based team at OzGreen also facilitated the establishment of GER’s Hunter Valley regional partnership. Here she was instrumental in getting an eclectic range of interest groups involved in the partnership, including the Thoroughbred Horse Breeders Association, Government Agencies, local NRM body, Local Government, Aboriginal groups, researchers, conservation groups and the power industry.

As then co-CEO of OzGREEN alongside her partner, the late Col Lennox, Sue continued to support GER at the national level as a member of the then GER Lead Partners Group which comprised five environmental NGOs. The lead partners were responsible for overseeing a key period in the growth of the initiative, providing the high level vision, leadership, coordination and strategic planning and policy needed.

Beyond her work with GER, Sue and the OzGREEN team have worked tirelessly for over 30 years to educate the next generation of conservation and natural resource management leaders through empowering programs such as Youth Leading the World, Change Makers and MyRiver. In 2020, this led to her becoming a NSW State Recipient Senior Australian of the year.

“The awarding of a Member of the Order of Australia is a further acknowledgement of Sue’s wide-reaching legacy and vision which stretches far beyond the Great Eastern Ranges to East Timor, India and beyond,” Gary Howling, CEO of Great Eastern Ranges.

“Our board and staff thank Sue for her tireless support of GER and celebrate this momentous and deserved award.”