We often hear about the 4000 species in Aotearoa that need conservation attention. It seems like a lot, and reducing that number is one of the goals of yesterday’s implementation plan for Te Mana o Te Taiao- Aotearoa New Zealand Biodiversity Strategy. Outcome 2 of the plan says, “All indigenous…

There is an article in Saturday’s Otago Daily Times article titled “Yellow-eyed penguin support funding in crisis” which outlines a decrease in funding for the hoiho, or yellow eyed penguin from the Dunedin City Council and the Otago Regional Council. …

Every year I hear grumbling on social media about Bird of the Year, and apologies from those running the accounts for spamming everyone’s feed with over-the-top bird enthusiasm. But, I reckon that the Bird of the Year is so incredibly important, and this is why: For context, I’m currently studying…

People write that once the noise of kākāpō booming rang around Fiordland, in an effort to tell us how far we’ve fallen. Can you imagine that there were once enough of these gorgeous birds for their booming to be an annoyance? That noise is now the stuff of dreams. I…

10 years ago today, I was further east than anyone else in New Zealand, barring anyone fishing out at sea, watching the dawn rise. My workmates were asleep in the hut, and I know that no one was on the Fourty Fours that night. I was on Rangatira Island, also…

It’s been a huge couple of weeks in New Zealand conservation, with Conservation Week, followed by the Great Kererū count and voting opens for Bird of the Year on October 1st. …

Communicating conservation science in post flagship species New Zealand. A flagship species is the creature chosen by a conservation organisation to represent that organisation. The most famous of these is the giant panda that was adopted by the WWF as their logo in the 1960s (1). …