Resource library

Our precious rivers and lakes are under threat, and we need your help to send an important message to the Prime Minister. By Tom Kay

With your help, we can clean up our waterways and build a smarter, greener economy.

Forest & Bird is pledging to oppose environmentally damaging projects that are put through the fast-track environmental override voted on in Parliament this afternoon.

This year, the entire Forest & Bird whānau – members, supporters, staff, branches, youth, and children – stepped up to fight for te taiao as the coalition government attempted to reverse four decades of vitally important environmental laws. 

A version of this story was first published in the Summer 2024 issue of Forest & Bird magazine.

Volunteers working to restore flora and fauna in an outstanding natural landscape are heartened by the return of local birdlife. By Louise Porteous

Epic efforts are underway to save the last 101 pukunui southern New Zealand dotterels from extinction. By Kerrie Waterworth

A quiet Forest & Bird volunteer effort in Wainuiomata is helping restore native forests and wetlands in the Greater Wellington region. By Caroline Wood

By David Hill. Illustrated by Kelly Body.

A version of this story was first published in the Summer 2024 issue of Forest & Bird magazine.

Forest & Bird says the Government could be onto a winner with their proposal to plant trees on Crown-owned land – but only if those trees are natives. 

Forest & Bird today released a letter from the Ombudsman outlining an investigation into the Ministry for the Environment (MfE) over a refusal to release information under an OIA about the Fast-track Approvals Bill.   

Jessica Przychodzko is a leader for the Ōtautahi Christchurch Hub of Forest & Bird Youth.

Meet the Forest & Bird staff, volunteers, and communities working to restore wildlife on the Whangaparāoa Peninsula. By Jenny Hanwell

Forest & Bird is appalled that the key regional tool to improve water quality in Southland – farm plans – is being deferred by the Government.

Modernisation of New Zealand’s conservation system is overdue, but Forest & Bird calls on the National-led coalition government to ensure that its focus is on improving conservation and protecting biodiversity.

Read about the people who stood up for New Zealand nature over the past 100 years. You may well know some of them! By Caroline Wood

The Fast-track Approvals Bill is back from select committee and Forest & Bird is alarmed that the purpose for the legislation is to enable coal and gold to be dug up, the seabed to be mined and rivers to be dammed with little or no regard for the en

Parliament’s Environment Committee must delay reporting back on the Fast-track Approvals Bill until it has time to properly consider the proposed projects, says Forest & Bird. 

New Zealand’s progress towards securing 30% of its terrestrial and aquatic habitats in protected areas by 2030 will be under the spotlight at this year’s UN Biodiversity Conference. By Chantal Pagel

These two words set a dangerous precedent in Aotearoa New Zealand, where there is no biodiversity to spare. By Dr Manu Davison

Veteran conservation activist Ann Graeme reflects on a lifetime of environmental activism and progress.

A version of this story was first published in the Spring 2024 issue of Forest & Bird magazine.

by Michael Pringle

When first asked to help with the Forest & Bird History project I knew that my experience in working with a range of archival sources in New Zealand would be useful to Forest & Bird.

Sarah Sickorez is a leader in the new Te Matau-a-Māui Hawkes Bay Hub of Forest & Bird Youth. Sarah's interest in nature was sparked by her visits to zoos, and a nature and science museum, in Texas.

Wouldn’t it be wonderful if the current government worked with local communities to restore our polluted lakes rather than waging war on them? By Tom Kay 

It is crucial that nature-based solutions are prioritised in future climate adaptation legislation, says Forest & Bird, after Parliament’s Inquiry into climate adaptation report was released today. 

Forest & Bird warns New Zealanders should be concerned about the coalition Government’s Resource Management Act reforms signaled today.
 

The hoiho yellow-eyed penguin has won Te Manu Rongonui o Te Tau Bird of the Year 2024. 

Hoiho, securing a decisive victory with 6,328 votes, wears the coveted crown atop its golden head for the second time. It previously won in 2019.

After five years of legal proceedings, the Supreme Court has delivered a mixed judgment but ultimately upheld Forest & Bird’s core challenge that overfished stocks need to be rebuilt within a period that is based on the stock’s biology and environme

The hoiho yellow-eyed penguin has overtaken the karure Chatham Island robin, waddling into first place in Bird of the Year 2024. 

This was first published as an opinion piece in the NZ Herald. 

Ko au te taiao, ko te taiao ko au, “I am nature, and nature is me.”

Conservationists are calling for more marine reserves along the Catlins coastline to protect declining numbers of yellow-eyed penguins. By Kerrie Waterworth

Our quiet little endemic grebe didn’t get a look in during Bird of the Century, but it’s still a winner for Ann Graeme.

A Bay of Plenty conservation group has boosted its trapping network thanks to Forest & Bird’s Give-a-Trap initiative. By Matt McCrorie

The trick to successful nest parasitism is to not unduly harm one’s hosts, as our visiting trickster cuckoos have learned over many generations. By Ann Graeme

Will it be a mighty seabird, a forest-dwelling songster, or perhaps one of our flightless friends? 

Forest & Bird has welcomed the news today that the Government has listened to the tens of thousands of New Zealanders who have raised growing concerns about the proposed Fast-track Approvals Bill.  These recommended changes include a significan