The planting of Russell lupins as sheep feed in the Canterbury high country is triggering a clash between farming and conservation values. In early summer, photographers jostle for space on the ...

In December 2023, Environment Canterbury’s Heath Melville counted around 3800 red-billed gulls at Kaikōura. Some birds may have been at sea feeding, but that’s still a dizzying drop—through the 1980s ...

The invasive seaweed Caulerpa brachypus was discovered in New Zealand just over a year ago, and it promises to ruin everything. On Aotea/Great Barrier Island, people are sacrificing their way of life ...

At sea, the feasts are grand and impromptu—and everyone’s invited. It begins with the dolphins. A school of striped commons in grey and gold, swimming in purposeful array. When they find the fish—the ...

There are more cautionary notes in Māoridom dealing with mana than you could shake the proverbial stick at. It is a source of both personal and collective strength, pride and identity. Mishandled, it ...

What compelled a South Auckland dairy farmer to amass New Zealand’s most significant collection of seashells? It arrived in a wooden cabinet, each drawer of it a family: Calliostomatinae, Volutidae, ...

In 2024, Naomi Arnold slogged her way up Te Araroa, walking from Bluff to Cape Reinga over about nine months. Here, 100 kilometres into her odyssey and deeply unsure about her capacity to finish it, ...

Where do young sea creatures spend their first weeks? What’s at the root of oceanic food chains? Kelp forests are to Aotearoa what coral reefs are to other marine ecosystems. Or they used to be. South ...

A study by the Pacific Islands Forum Fisheries Agency of illegal, unreported and unregulated tuna fishing has found that the problem may not be as bad as was feared. It estimated that between 2017 and ...

The release of Disney’s Moana in te reo was a landmark for Māori language revitalisation. As that rebirth gathers steam, mita, or dialects are returning to the fore. When The Lion King Reo Māori hit ...

Perhaps, if I were to choose a snapshot that represented wild New Zealand in the 21st century, this would be it. It’s a peaceful lake on the southeast coast of the South Island, surrounded by cabbage ...

Pumice and ash, scoria and grit-the harsh layers of pulverised volcanic refuse that form Rangipo Dessert east of Mount Ruapehu-may offer little succour to plants, but from such unpromising materials ...