Chris Tugwell became Chairman of Mid Murray Landcare SA in 2017. He was the driving force behind the 3,200 square kilometre River Murray International Dark Sky Reserve (Australia’s first) working for four years with the Mid Murray Council, tourism specialists, local residents and experts from the Astronomical Society of SA to make the Reserve a reality. Chris was made the 2021 Mid Murray Citizen of the Year in recognition of his work to create the Reserve.

Over the past 25 years, Chris and his partner have planted some 80,000 trees and bushes on their 350 acre sheep paddock at Big Bend, restoring habitat for local wildlife, including many resident wombats.

When not admiring the astonishing night sky, Chris is an award-winning actor, playwright and film maker with a career spanning more than forty years and some fifty productions; the best-known being X Ray, about Australian Guantanamo Bay inmate, David Hicks. Chris has served on many arts industry committees and boards, and was made a Life Member of the Australian Writers’ Guild in 2012.