Why do we need a National Policy Statement for Indigenous Biodiversity (NPSIB)? The 2018 State of the Environment report identified we had over 4000 plants and animals in New Zealand at risk of extinction. And despite some doing better under intensive management, many are still quietly slipping away. Our approach needs to change. The Resource […]
By David Brooks Bigger and better than ever, our Bird of the Year contest had it all in 2019. Relentless mockery between campaign teams, a neck-and-neck race to the finish line between two flightless treasures and priceless publicity for our native birds and the threats they face. Nearly 43,500 New Zealanders voted between October 28 […]
Pūteketeke – Australasian Crested Grebe – Podiceps cristatus Native, Nationally vulnerable I was only two-years-old when my parents bought an old ‘smoko hut’ from the Geraldine Linen Flax Mill and transported it to Te Puna a Taka (Lake Clearwater) – part of the Ō Tū Wharekai wetland system in the Ashburton lakes/upper Rangitata River area, […]
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. 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 not at […]
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, […]
Molesworth is New Zealand’s largest farm, as you will know if you’ve ever been lucky enough to visit the magnificent landscapes of this isolated 180,000ha station – about the size of Stewart Island/Rakiura – that links Marlborough to North Canterbury, Tasman, and Kaikoura. Yet few people know it is part of our public conservation land […]
Protect one species and resurrect a whole forest. Ann Graeme shares her personal stories of native New Zealand birds and insects that have returned after community pest control is carried out for another species. She calls it the “Lazarus effect”. It rained in the night. My pack is heavy with rat bait, and I am […]
Forest & Bird’s Regional Conservation Manager Sue Maturin reflects on the government’s review of the ‘General Policy for National Parks’ (General Policy) amid fears the public is being left out of an opportunity to improve one of our country’s most important conservation policies. Next to the National Parks Act, the General Policy is the most important […]