Dr Les Molloy is the author of a number of seminal books on New Zealand natural history and wilderness conservation, notably The Ancient Islands (with photographer Brian Enting; Port Nicholson Press, 1982), Fold of the Land (with photographer Lloyd Homer; Allen & Unwin, 1988), Wild New Zealand (with photographer Gerald Cubitt; New Holland, 1994), The Living Mantle: Soils in the New Zealand Landscape (Mallinson Rendel, 1998), and Landforms: The Shaping of New Zealand (with Roger Smith; Craig Potton Publishing, 2002).

Originally a soil scientist by profession, Les worked for 10 years at the Department of Conservation’s head office where he was the department’s principal advisor on natural history interpretation. Now a private consultant, he has advised the Department of Conservation on all listed and tentative New Zealand natural World Heritage sites, and travels widely internationally assessing natural World Heritage proposals on behalf of the International Union for the Conservaton of Nature (IUCN).