Brian John Huntley (born 1944) is a retired professor and conservation scientist from South Africa, best known for developing and transforming African national parks.

He was involved in expanding the National Botanical Institute (later SANBI) to become an authoritative repository on South African flora and fauna.

As an independent expert, he was a consultant for agencies and international organizations, including the United Nations, with regard to nature conservation.

[1][2] It may have been in his blood; in 1850 his great-great-grandfather introduced nurseryman and seedsman businesses to South African people, along with getting first trees to the Transvaal gold fields workers by sending oxwagon loads northwards from Pietermaritzburg.

He enjoyed investigating the landscape of Natal, and later, inspired by Ian Garland, Roddy Ward and others, he kept exploring Ngoye, Mkuzi, St Lucia, and parts of Zululand during his school days.

[2] After leaving SANBI in 2007, Huntley served as a senior policy adviser to the Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism for two years, retiring in 2009.

He visited Sub-Antarctic tundra and Congo rainforests,[3] the forests of Zululand, the savannas of northern South Africa, the national parks of Angola, and more.

[3] In retirement, Huntley and his wife settled in a small village near the southernmost tip of Africa, between the Kogelberg Mountains and the sea.