A recent video clip of a stoat sussing out how to get onto the top of a picnic table where a kārearea (New Zealand falcon) was standing at Aoraki/Mt Cook National Park, sent shivers up my spine, no fear of the big bird on the stoat’s part. This was followed by a stoat darting around a lacebark […]

Many people shudder at the thought of bats. But who’s to blame for this misconception? Was it Bram Stoker who wrote the classic tale of Count Dracula in 1897, or was it the film industry that subsequently embellished the story of the supernatural, blood drooling vampires? In contrast, the two remaining New Zealand bats are […]

When I first encountered a wrybill (ngutuparore), I was almost in shock seeing what looked like a deformed bill, pointing to the right. Then I learned that wrybill, a small plover, weighing about 70 grams, is the only bird in the world with an asymmetrically turned bill. It is endemic to New Zealand, but unfortunately, […]

By the end of the year, neonicotinoids insecticides can no longer be used outdoors in the European Union. This is because recent research clearly shows that this widely used agri-chemical is toxic to invertebrates and hence is a potential contributor to the world-wide massive decline of bees. The pesticide is related to nicotine, it literally […]

While local authorities are responsible for waste disposal, it is our waste that needs dealing with, so we all have an important role to play. Avoiding more waste has to be the first principle, the very least we can do is reduce waste and help make the environment more sustainable. According to the Timaru District […]

The state of our environment, especially freshwater is of great concern to a wide cross section of people in New Zealand. The recently developed Freshwater Rescue Plan, supported by 16 organisations, from the public health sector to tourism and conservation, includes seven steps on how to save New Zealand’s waterways. One of the aims is […]

Last time I wrote about how plastic bags and microbeads affect the life in our oceans. Unfortunately there is another aspect of industrial pollution, one that is less visible. It has recently been revealed that the source of 85 % of human debris on shorelines around the world is hidden and unseen because it is […]

Plastic is at our fingertips all day and every day; the keyboard, the mouse, kitchen utensils, drink bottles, and of course plastic bags. More plastic has been produced during the last decade than over the previous 100 years. The production of plastic uses around eight percent of the world’s oil production and plastic products make […]

Did you know that New Zealand is the penguin capital of the world, with more than half the species breeding in our territory? There are 18 species of penguins in the world, ten of which are at risk of extinction. Half of those threatened species live and breed close by in New Zealand and on […]