Malcolm Legg - 2026 Dame Phyllis Frost Winner
Malcolm Legg: the ecologist who turned knowledge into action
This year's Dame Phyllis Frost Winner is the inimitable Malcolm Legg.
Some people study nature. Others work to protect it. Malcolm Legg has spent decades doing both – and in the process has changed how the Mornington Peninsula understands, values and cares for its native wildlife.
An ecologist and long-time Landcare volunteer, Malcolm is this year's winner of the Dame Phyllis Frost Award. His work spans ecological research, threatened species conservation, invasive species management, habitat restoration and community education. Based around Rosebud but active in every corner of the Peninsula, he has built a body of work that land managers, councils and community groups still rely on today.
More than 500 surveys, one lasting resource
Malcolm's starting point has always been evidence. Habitat loss, invasive species and human impacts are the biggest threats to Australia's native plants and animals, and he knew that reversing decline depends on first understanding what is there – and what is missing.
So he went looking. Over the years Malcolm has completed more than 500 fauna surveys across the Mornington Peninsula and surrounding regions. From that work he created the Mornington Peninsula Wildlife Atlas, a comprehensive record of local species that has since been incorporated into the Shire's online Biodiversity Atlas.
The atlas is far more than a list. It has given local government, Parks Victoria and Commonwealth land managers the data they need to make evidence-based decisions, prioritise conservation actions and protect critical habitat. His ecological assessments have guided management across multiple land tenures, from Parks Victoria reserves to Commonwealth sites such as HMAS Cerberus.
Finding the bandicoots
Some of Malcolm's most important contributions have come from finding wildlife others had missed.
In 2008 he discovered breeding populations of the endangered Southern Brown Bandicoot on Quail Island. He went on to identify six additional breeding populations along the northern Western Port coastline. These discoveries significantly expanded what was known about the species' distribution and shaped conservation priorities and long-term management for one of the region's most vulnerable mammals.
Mapping the kangaroos
Between 2007 and 2011, Malcolm carried out extensive ground-based surveys of Eastern Grey Kangaroos across the Peninsula. Working on foot across diverse habitat types, he mapped where kangaroos were present and where they were absent, producing one of the most comprehensive local datasets available at the time.
His findings overturned a common assumption. Kangaroos were not spread evenly across the Peninsula. Instead, they were concentrated in specific habitat corridors – particularly an arc running from Bushrangers Bay through Greens Bush and Arthurs Seat (Wonga) to the Devilbend (Daangean) area.
That work became an important local reference point. It has been used as a comparison in later assessments and has highlighted the limits of relying solely on broad-scale modelling. On-ground ecology, Malcolm showed, still matters.
Taking on feral predators
Knowing where native animals live is only half the job. Protecting them means tackling the threats.
As part of the Western Port Ramsar Protection Program, Malcolm conducted extensive fauna surveys that helped establish ongoing feral animal control programs and monitoring of threatened wildlife. Through Southwest Mornington Peninsula Landcare, he has volunteered on fox control in high-quality bushland at Merricks North and across the Boneo, Rosebud and Main Ridge area for the Greens Bush to Arthurs Seat Biolink. He has also contributed to feral animal management across the wider Gippsland Plain bioregion.
The payoff is real. These programs support vulnerable ground-dwelling wildlife, including bandicoots, the Growling Grass Frog and the Agile Antechinus.
Restoring what was lost
If surveys are Malcolm's foundation, restoration is his passion. He has long championed the removal of invasive environmental weeds such as boneseed, bluebell creeper, pittosporum and wild pine – and proven that degraded land can return to healthy indigenous bushland.
For Malcolm, restoration has never been just about pulling weeds. It is about rebuilding whole, resilient ecosystems that native wildlife has evolved to depend on. He has worked hard to change perceptions, showing landholders and land managers that indigenous vegetation supports far greater biodiversity than introduced landscapes.
Two Landcare projects show this in practice. Through the London Bridge Grassy Bowl Restoration Project, Malcolm has helped restore endangered Calcareous Swale Grassland on the Southern Peninsula. At Fingal, he has worked to restore Moonah Woodland, another endangered ecological vegetation class.
The missing link between research and action
What sets Malcolm apart is not only the depth of his science, but his ability to share it. Those who nominated him describe him as "the missing link between research and action".
His unparalleled knowledge of species distribution and habitat condition lets him see not just what is present, but what is missing and what an ecosystem needs to recover. Crucially, he can explain that to anyone – a landholder, a volunteer, a council officer or a decision-maker.
As a founding and active member of the Southwest Mornington Peninsula Landcare group, Malcolm has given countless presentations, mentored volunteers and offered practical conservation advice to Landcare and Friends groups, councils, committees of management and community organisations. His clear, passionate communication has inspired people to value native landscapes and to act to protect them. His work has contributed to the conservation of many Peninsula species, including koalas, bandicoots and antechinus.
He is also tenacious. His advocacy for removing invasive species and re-establishing native vegetation is driven by scientific evidence and a clear vision of what a healthy landscape should look like – and it has been a driving force behind protecting the Peninsula's much-loved fauna.
Lessons from a lifetime in the field
Malcolm's career offers clear lessons for anyone working in conservation.
Good decisions need good data. Accurate information on species, habitat condition and ecological processes allows land managers to set priorities, protect critical habitat and measure whether restoration is working.
Restoration works best at the scale of whole ecosystems. Controlling invasive species, re-establishing indigenous vegetation and protecting habitat connectivity together create landscapes that can recover on their own.
Lasting change is a shared effort. The best outcomes come when landholders, volunteers, government agencies and environmental groups pool their knowledge and work towards common goals.
And above all, patience and persistence pay off. Ecological recovery takes time. With informed management and sustained commitment, degraded landscapes can heal and threatened species can be given a fighting chance.
A legacy that will keep growing
Malcolm set out to leave healthier ecosystems, better-informed communities and a stronger foundation for biodiversity conservation than existed when he began. By any measure, he has done it.
His legacy lives in the Wildlife Atlas and the data that continues to guide planning. It lives in restored grasslands and woodlands, in protected bandicoot populations and in feral control programs that keep running. It lives in the restoration mindset he has helped embed – the confidence that damaged land can be brought back.
Most of all, it lives in people. Through decades of education and collaboration, Malcolm has built a network of people who understand, value and actively protect native ecosystems. That cultural shift will keep benefiting biodiversity on the Peninsula for generations.
Congratulations, Malcolm – a richly deserved recognition of a lifetime spent caring for land, wildlife and community.
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