Tasmanian Elder Jim Everett-puralia meenamatta has been awarded the Bob Brown Foundation's Environmentalist of the Year.
Announced at a ceremony for environmentalists in Hobart on Monday, the Foundation says Uncle Jim was recognised for his "real achievements for a world in environmental crisis".
Continuing his decades-long fight for ecological protection, Uncle Jim has been involved in multiple protests against logging of native forests in Tasmania this year.
This included in southern Tasmania's Styx Valley in March and the Central Highlands in October.
He was arrested for trespass on both occasions, and subsequently refused to attend court on the matter, following which a warrant was issued for his arrest.
The Foundation said Uncle Jim has been a prominent figure in many environment and First Nations justice movements, including the historic protests to protect the Franklin River in the 1980's.
Uncle Jim said receiving the award was a great personal honour, an accolade which recognises his decades of environmental activism in the state.
"My Caring for Country and political actions go back to the Gordon below Franklin dam issue, early 1980s," Uncle Jim said.
"In the early 90s Peg Putt and I visited Japan and fronted the big paper-makers with letters demanding that they stop taking our ancient forests away as woodchips.
"In 1995 I was taken by helicopter to the Tarkine 'road to nowhere' and arrested for trespass.
"This action had me attend a court in Burnie, and I pleaded 'no jurisdiction', the magistrate gave me a not guilty plea anyway and I was fined around $150 and court costs."
The 82-year-old said his current political action is to not make a plea in a colonial court, it has no jurisdiction because "we have never made any agreements to be Australian citizens".
"The frustration of facing-off governments on multiple Palawa community issues year in and year out has had our leaders having to concentrate on how to heal the community under colonial trauma," he said.
"It is only now that I have been able to find time to address the environmental issues with forest logging being the obvious major issue."
Bob Brown commended Uncle Jim's commitment to environmental activism, saying he is "much loved by the wider community".
"(He) has actively defended country since the Franklin River campaign and is an outstanding defender of forests and advocate for saving the natural world, including its oceans," Mr Brown said.
"Jim is Country and Country is Jim. This wise old Palawan is defying the plunderers while yet inspiring to action all those who want nature protected but think someone else should do it.
"If they lock him up there will be huge public anger!"
Mr Brown noted Uncle Jim expressed that the most important thing is for him to accept the award on behalf of the Tasmanian Aboriginal community, and for the Aboriginal community's ancestors who cared for Tasmania for thousands of years.
The annual Environment Awards which are in their 13th year also saw Alexa Stuart from Rising Tide awarded Young Environmentalist of the Year, the North East Forest Alliance awarded Environmental Group of the Year and John Middendorf awarded the Deni Greene award for business of professional environmentalist.
