1. Peter Stanton carried out his assessments in a range of dissimilar landscapes leading to the identification and protection of many critically threatened ecosystems across the state during a period of rapid and widespread land development under the Joh Bjelke-Petersen government.
Peter Stanton was involved in two incidents where implemented or proposed disciplinary actions became prominent controversies.
Since 2003, Stanton has worked with the Australian Wildlife Conservancy as a fire and vegetation ecologist.
Peter Stanton was born on 23 April 1940 at Shorncliffe, on the northern outskirts of Brisbane.
Peter Stanton was educated at Banyo State High School, where he excelled at languages and athletics, and later at the University of Queensland and the Australian Forestry School, emerging with a Bachelor of Science in Agriculture and a Diploma in Forestry in 1962.
Peter Stanton worked for five years as a forester until, in 1967, he was transferred to the National Parks branch of the Queensland Forestry Department.
Peter Stanton's transfer was a result of the interest he had shown in National Parks while working in Mackay, and his nomination of and the subsequent gazettal of Cape Upstart as a National Park.
In 1973, Peter Stanton undertook a field review of the conservation status of the Wet Tropics area of Queensland spanning two reports which were published by Queensland Forestry in 1974.
Peter Stanton's assessments confirmed that "the areas Webb and Tracey had identified were still some of the highest priorities for conservation" whilst identifying and recommending the protection of a number of additional endangered habitats both within and beyond the lowland areas.
In 1980 Peter Stanton was invited to address the second World Wilderness Congress which was held in Cairns, Queensland the same year.
From 1992 to 1994, Peter Stanton, accompanied by botanist David Fell, led the first major study of the rainforest ecosystems of the Cape York Peninsula bioregion resulting in the publication of the research report 'The Rainforests of Cape York Peninsula' in 1995.
Since 2003, Peter Stanton has worked with the Australian Wildlife Conservancy as a fire and vegetation ecologist.
Later, in 1994, Peter Stanton was recommended for disciplinary action by the State Government after he ordered that a vehicle containing guns and chainsaws which were suspected of being used for the purpose of smuggling the seeds of the threatened Foxtail Palm be sent to the Cooktown Police Station.
Peter Stanton had advised Department of Environment and Heritage officer Pat Shears, who had confiscated the vehicle inside the Cape Melville National Park, to leave the matter in the hands of the police rather than immediately inform the DEH head office in Cairns.
Peter Stanton did not trust DEH senior management and feared that Shears might become the victim of "political interference".
The disciplinary action which had been recommended for Peter Stanton was eventually abandoned in the face of significant public outcry.