Pippa Parker honoured with BirdLife South Africa Eagle-Owl Award
Struik Nature Publisher Pippa Parker has received a BirdLife South Africa Eagle-Owl Award in recognition of four decades in natural history publishing and her longstanding contribution to birding, conservation literature and BirdLife South Africa. Struik Nature author and conservation biologist Cliff Dorse was also recognised with an Owl Award.
Some careers can be measured in books published. Others are better measured in the knowledge those books have put into people’s hands – and the difference that knowledge has made.
For some four decades, Pippa Parker has helped bring the natural world closer to readers. As Publisher of Struik Nature, she has worked with scientists, naturalists, photographers, illustrators and authors to produce books spanning birds, mammals, reptiles, insects, astronomy, geology and other areas of natural history.
Her contribution was recognised at BirdLife South Africa’s annual Owl Awards, held in Cape Town on Thursday, 17 September 2026 – the first time the ceremony has been hosted in the Mother City.
BirdLife South Africa celebrates 30 years
The 2026 Owl Awards coincide with an important milestone: 30 years since the Southern African Ornithological Society joined the BirdLife Partnership, the global network of organisations working to conserve birds, their habitats and biodiversity, and became BirdLife South Africa.
The move broadened the organisation’s focus beyond the study and research of birds to include their active conservation and the protection of the habitats on which they depend.
Three decades later, BirdLife South Africa’s conservation work has grown considerably, supported by a network of partners, donors, staff, volunteers and collaborators. The annual Owl Awards recognise people and organisations that have gone well beyond what was asked of them in supporting this work.
Pippa was one of the recipients of the Eagle-Owl Awards, announced at the ceremony by Anton Wolfaardt, Mouse-Free Marion Project Manager. Her award recognised four decades in natural history publishing, latterly as Publisher of Struik Nature, as well as her longstanding support of BirdLife South Africa.
Struik Nature author Cliff Dorse receives an Owl Award
Pippa was not the only familiar name recognised in Cape Town.
Cliff Dorse, Head of Biodiversity Management for the City of Cape Town, received an Owl Award for his work securing protected areas, three decades of pelagic guiding and his contributions to the Southern African Bird Atlas Project.
Cliff is also a Struik Nature author. Together with fellow conservation biologist Suretha Dorse, he wrote Field Guide to Fynbos Fauna, the first concise field guide to bring together the mammals, birds, reptiles and frogs of South Africa’s Fynbos Biome in a single volume.
Both Cliff and Suretha have spent their careers in the formal conservation sector, making significant contributions to the understanding and protection of the Fynbos Biome. They work in the Biodiversity Management Branch of the City of Cape Town’s Environmental Management Department, where Cliff leads the Conservation Services Unit and Suretha heads programmes focusing on priority species and freshwater ecology.
Their Field Guide to Fynbos Fauna distils that specialist knowledge into an accessible guide to more than 400 species found across the Fynbos Biome. Covering mammals, birds, reptiles and frogs, it includes key identification features, full-colour photographs and distribution maps, with its geographical scope encompassing the Cape Peninsula, Kogelberg, Cederberg, Agulhas Plain, West Coast and Baviaanskloof.
The book is also a fitting example of something at the heart of Pippa’s publishing career: bringing together specialist expertise and publishing to make knowledge of the natural world accessible to more people.
BirdLife South Africa Eagle-Owl Award citation for Pippa Parker
The full citation presented in recognition of Pippa’s contribution reads:
“It is a great privilege to present a BirdLife South Africa Eagle-Owl Award to Pippa Parker in recognition of her extraordinary contribution to natural history publishing and, in particular, to the advancement of birding and bird conservation literature in South Africa and beyond.
Over a publishing career spanning some four decades, Pippa has established herself as one of the world’s foremost natural history publishers. From her early days as a junior editor at Struik, she rose to become Publisher of the renowned Struik Nature imprint, where her vision, courage, and exceptional leadership transformed it into one of the most respected natural history publishing programmes anywhere in the world.
Under Pippa’s guidance, Struik Nature expanded to encompass virtually every field of natural history, from birds and mammals to reptiles, insects, astronomy, and geology. She possessed a remarkable ability to identify important gaps in the market, recognise emerging opportunities, and bring together leading scientists, naturalists, photographers, and illustrators to produce books of enduring quality and international significance.
Throughout her career, Pippa has combined editorial excellence with a rare gift for nurturing people. She has mentored new authors, championed projects that others considered too specialised or commercially risky, embraced new publishing technologies, and built lasting relationships founded on trust, respect, and collaboration. Her warmth, generosity, and infectious enthusiasm have inspired generations of authors and publishing colleagues alike.
For BirdLife South Africa and the wider birding community, Pippa’s contribution has been truly exceptional. She has worked alongside many of the country’s leading ornithologists, publishing countless bird books and some of southern Africa’s best-selling and popular field guides and reference works. Her commitment to making bird knowledge accessible has inspired thousands of people to discover, appreciate, and conserve our remarkable avifauna.
Pippa is very supportive of BirdLife South Africa, with our organisation benefiting from copies of books for our community bird guides and education initiatives, advertising in African Birdlife, magazine subscription prizes, royalties from the sale of the Southern African bird checklist, our recommended logo on the back cover of bird books, and much more.
Despite her remarkable achievements and international reputation, Pippa has remained humble, generous, and quietly dedicated to excellence. Her vision, integrity, and unwavering commitment have helped shape an indigenous natural history publishing culture that is recognised and respected around the world.
Through her outstanding leadership, editorial excellence, and lifelong commitment to natural history publishing, Pippa has left an enduring legacy that continues to benefit conservation, science, and countless readers, birders, and naturalists.
There are few more deserving than Pippa Parker to receive a BirdLife South Africa Eagle-Owl Award.”
Four decades of natural history publishing
The award recognises something that extends far beyond any individual title. Through the books she has commissioned and published, the authors and specialists she has supported and the relationships she has built across publishing and conservation, Pippa has played an important role in shaping South Africa’s natural history publishing landscape.
For birders and naturalists, these books make specialist knowledge accessible. For scientists, conservationists and other experts, they provide a way to share years of knowledge and field experience with a much wider audience. And for readers, they offer an invitation to look more closely at the remarkable natural world around us.
That Pippa’s recognition comes in the same year that BirdLife South Africa marks 30 years as part of the global BirdLife Partnership makes the occasion especially significant. And that Struik Nature author Cliff Dorse was recognised at the same ceremony brings the relationship between conservation and publishing neatly full circle: knowledge gained through decades in the field finding its way onto the page, and from there into the hands of the people who care about protecting what they find outside.
Congratulations to Pippa and Cliff on two richly deserved honours.