Hitchcock’s degree in Forestry and his early career as a NSW forester in the 1960s led him to question and challenge the standard practices of the time, when old growth forests, including rainforests, were seen as little more than a resource to be logged, or cleared for agriculture. His move to the NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service saw him take on the role of investigating and establishing new national parks and nature reserves. He was an early advocate for a more scientific approach on representativeness and adequacy of the reserve system. His work included establishment of a string of coastal national parks on the NSW north coast in the face of sand mining threats, including the great Myall Lakes National Park. Perhaps his greatest early achievement in NSW, through a strategic approach of developing a rainforest conservation policy based on biological survey, was the protection of NSW rainforest. This included the suite of Gondwana Rainforest parks in the north of NSW which are now World Heritage listed, and were dedicated after the famed rainforest conservation decision by the Wran Government in 1982. On the NSW south coast, in response to public outcry over the advent of the Harris-Daishowa woodchip mill in Eden in 1969, and the consequential change from selective forest logging to clear felling, Hitchcock helped to establish many new national parks to protect these precious tall forests Hitchcock became involved in the Tasmanian forest issue when he was appointed by the Hawke Government, on secondment from the NSW Government, as one of three commissioners to the Commonwealth Commission of Inquiry into the Lemonthyme and Southern Forests of Tasmania (The 'Helsham Inquiry'). At the conclusion of the Inquiry, Hitchcock’s controversial dissenting report prevailed, recommending that most of the area under Inquiry should be transferred into protected areas. Most of his recommendations were adopted by the Commonwealth Government, including the World Heritage nomination for these Tasmanian forests. In 2012, Hitchcock was again influential in gaining the addition of more than 170,000 hectares of mainly old-growth forest to the Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area which now totals 1,584,233 hectares.

In 1985 Hitchcock was one of nine Australians cited in the environment section of BHP’s Award for Excellence. He was awarded Member of the Order of Australia (AM) in the 1990 Australia Day Honours list for service to conservation and the environment. Internationally, he was awarded The IBM Award for Environmental Excellence 1993 for contribution to conservation of forests and the prestigious Packard International Parks Merit Award 1996. Peter Hitchcock dwarfed by a giant rainbow gum, Ceram, Indonesia. Credit:Lorraine Cairnes. After he left the Wet Tropics Authority, he remained in Cairns as an environmental and natural heritage consultant. He served as a global advisor on World Heritage to UNESCO’s International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN), and on behalf of the IUCN, he reviewed nominations for World Heritage listing all over the world, including in the Middle East (Cedars of Lebanon), Madagascar, Indonesian rainforests in Borneo and Sulawesi, and Lorentz in PNG. With his wife Liana, he moved to Borneo to work with an international rainforest conservation NGO, coming up against entrenched corruption associated with clearing for the Palm Oil Industry. They later moved to Port Moresby when he was appointed as an AusAID advisor to the Papua New Guinea Government in a World Heritage nomination for the Owen Stanley Ranges and Kokoda Track forests of eastern PNG. Returning to Australia, he was appointed Adjunct Research Fellow at the Cairns Institute of James Cook University. Peter Hitchcock’s logic, strategic thinking, scientific knowledge and calmness under pressure impressed politicians of all persuasions. He would take decision-makers into the bush or fly them by helicopter to remote areas, showing them and explaining the beauty of natural landscapes and their importance for nature conservation. His bush walks into areas proposed as new national parks were legendary, inspiring all that were with him. His methods can be seen as a stark contrast to many of today’s bureaucrats and CEOs who often lack genuine expertise in the fields they govern. Peter Hitchcock engendered such respect from staff and associates that, decades on, they continue to revere him.

At the time of his death, he was close to completing a book on the tall Eucalypt forests of Australia, tracing their evolutionary history and describing their modern-day status. As recently as last February, he joined a Smithsonian Institution scientific expedition to Patagonia to feature in documentary filming and to investigate Eucalyptus fossils which are 52 million years old, the Gondwana link to today’s Eucalypts of Australia. Last year he led an expedition to the Spice Islands of Indonesia to review the ecology of the Rainbow Gum (Eucalyptus deglupta), the only Eucalyptus species with a range extending into the northern hemisphere. Peter Hitchcock is survived by his wife Liana, sister Pauline, brother David, and children Phillip, Jenny, Ellie, Joe and Jess, and their families. Lorraine Cairnes, John Benson, Liana Hitchcock Peter Hitchcock: 1944 - 2019