Dara McAnulty is a 18-year-old autistic naturalist, conservationist and activist from Northern Ireland. After writing his online blog 'Naturalist Dara' for over three years and writing articles for many UK Wildlife NGOs, he published his debut book, Diary of a Young Naturalist which won, among other titles, the Wainwright Prize for Nature Writing 2020 - making him the youngest ever winner of a major UK literary prize - the British Book Awards Narrative Non-Fiction Book of the Year 2021, the Books are My Bag Readers' Award 2020, and Newcomer of the Year, An Post Irish Awards 2020. Dara has featured on BBC Radio 4, BBC Radio Ulster, Springwatch, Countryfile, Homeground, BBC Bitesize, Observer, The Irish Times, the Irish Independent, Positive News and The Big Issue.
Dara is a passionate and fervent campaigner for the natural world and dedicated fundraiser, volunteer and wildlife recorder. He is the youngest ever winner of the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds Medal for services to conservation and nature. He is also the recipient of 10 Downing Street's 'Points of Light' and the winner of The Daily Mirror Young Animal Hero award. He lives with his family and Rosie the rescue-greyhound at the foot of the Mourne Mountains in County Down.