Margaret Thorsborne

Margaret Grace Thorsborne AO (3 June 1927 – 16 October 2018) was an Australian naturalist, conservationist and environmental activist.

Toward the end of her life, she was involved in the struggle to protect Queensland’s Wet Tropics World Heritage Area and animals such as the southern cassowary, mahogany glider and dugong.

The monitoring program required a regular presence on the island and acted not only to quantify population changes but also to protect the colony.

Later, as the population recovered and more help was required to conduct the counting, Margaret and Arthur began a long term collaboration with John Winter (Zoologist) from the Queensland National Parks and Wildlife Service.

[1] Margaret painted over 2,500 envelopes which she sent to friends, politicians and government agencies, often with conservation messages such 'Azure kingfishers need tree-lined streams',[5] and matching stamps.