When Tony Parkes retired from investment banking at the age of 56, few would have predicted that his next chapter would revolve around seedlings, rainforest ecology and one of Australia's most ambitious conservation efforts. On the far north coast of New South Wales, where the once-vast Big Scrub rainforest had been reduced to scattered fragments, Parkes found a mission that would shape the rest of his life. Over the next three decades, he helped bring together scientists, landowners, volunteers and conservation groups in a campaign to restore an ecosystem that had lost more than 99% of its original extent. Parkes died on June 13, 2026, at the age of 96, leaving behind a rainforest recovery movement that continues to grow long after its founder's passing.
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