Beneath the water’s surface, in a stream or river near you, a tiny native fish is searching for a rock. It has to be the right size and shape, in the right location in the stream and the right orientation to the current. It also has to be defended from all the other little fish […]

On Friday  of last week the Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment (PCE) released a report recommending an immediate cessation of the commercial harvest of the longfin eel, along with the urgent implementation of additional measures to halt the decline of this species. The New Zealand longfin eel (Anguilla dieffenbachii) has been increasingly in the limelight […]

Good Afternoon to the Hon. Dr Nick Smith, How do you place a price on lives that have been saved from tragedy Dr Smith? By taking away the “seat belts in the conservation estate vehicle“. The area and programme managers are the “seatbelts”. The steering wheel may be your mandate, your perception of the “best […]

Frogs typically make good captive breeders, so the fact that for eight years experts couldn’t successfully raise one froglet from our Archey’s frog was proving mind-bogglingly frustrating. Enter Richard Gibson – an English reptile and amphibian breeding expert with over 20 years of experience. He flew here in late 2011 to take up a position […]

Recently, I got the chance to head down to the Denniston plateau – a piece of land that is currently being eyed up by coal-miners – to marvel at the ‘Persian carpet of biodiversity’ that the famed photographer Rod Morris talks so fondly about. I’ve been a macro-photographer for four years now, and as you […]

What is more endangered than our little spotted kiwi, lies at just 5-6 cm in length and comes with a stunning dusting of silvery-gold speckles? Our very own dwarf galaxias – a native fish that is found in the lower half of the North Island and the top half of the South Island. At this time of […]

As the temperatures gradually get warmer, we aren’t the only ones thinking about hopping into our local river. A small, yet spectacularly attractive little native fish called the redfin bully uses this time of year to make the move from the sea to fresh water. The redfin bully is usually a freshwater fish but they […]

This summer, keen mollusc-o-philes may be interested in taking advantage of the warmer weather, and getting out and meeting some lesser-known local bivalves. While the kākahi or freshwater mussel may look humble, it has some pretty interesting life history traits.  While most mussels expel eggs and sperm for external fertilisation in the water, a mother […]

Healthy lakes and rivers are surely something that virtually every New Zealander cares about. New Zealanders use freshwater in many ways… for instance as a source of kai, to irrigate a crop, to turn the turbines of a power station, or to partake in their favourite sport. As a result, it’s not easy to get […]