Journalist in Africa Wins NWF Prize For Magazine Work - Don Boroughs - Brief Article

International Wildlife, March-April, 2000

The editors of National Wildlife and International Wildlife have named journalist Don Boroughs winner of the Trudy Farrand and John Strohm Magazine Writing Award.

Boroughs, based in Johannesburg, South Africa, was honored for "Battle for a Wild Garden," an article on efforts to protect a region at the tip of South Africa that harbors more than 7,000 plant species. The article appeared in the May/June issue of International Wildlife.

While reporting the story, Boroughs traveled with some of Africa's foremost botanists. "It was humbling to see people approach a scrubby bush with the kind of excitement and passion usually reserved for rhinos and lions," says Boroughs, whose own enthusiasm shows up in colorful observations, anecdotes and word pictures.

The award was named in honor of Trudy Farrand, founding editor of one of NWF's children's magazines, Ranger Rick, and John Strohm, founding editor of National Wildlife and International Wildlife. It was established by Mrs. Edmund Ball of Muncie, Indiana, through a gift to the National Wildlife Federation.

Boroughs was raised in Michigan, studied nature photography and went on to become a correspondent in Africa for U.S. News and World Report. Now a free-lance journalist, he is a frequent contributor to International Wildlife.