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Protecting yellow-eyed penguins, advocating for marine reserves and restoring native bush are all in a day’s work for Forest & Bird’s South Otago branch, which has received the organisation’s new annual Branch Award.

Forest & Bird has awarded the outgoing Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment an ‘Old Blue’ for her significant contribution to New Zealand’s environment and wildlife.

Forest & Bird has awarded Glenys Mather of West Auckland the prestigious Old Blue for nearly 20 years’ service to the Waitakere branch and especially for inspiring new generations of conservationists in the Kiwi Conservation Club.

Leaders from major tourism, science, health, recreation and environmental organisations are coming together to launch an unprecedented plan for solving the country’s freshwater crisis.

Forest & Bird is calling on the Ministry of Primary Industries to set a zero bycatch target for seabird deaths after official figures revealed an estimated 1000 albatross, petrels, and shearwaters were killed by surface longline fishing boats during

Forest & Bird says the Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment’s (PCE’s) report on native birds makes clear that New Zealand’s environment is in crisis, with four out of every five native birds heading for extinction.

Forest & Bird recognises that mangroves are an indigenous species with high biodiversity value.

Forest & Bird has released a series of maps showing that the majority of New Zealand’s rivers and streams will not be covered by any swimmability standard, under the Government’s proposed new water quality measures.

Five years ago the Board developed the first strategic plan for Forest & Bird. Last year the Board updated the strategic plan. In both plans we have had the goal of growing and strengthening our finances, membership and organisation.

The Kōkako has been crowned New Zealand's Bird of the Year after two weeks of close competition and heated campaigning.

Best known for its deep organ-like call, the Kōkako is a large slate-grey bird with blue wattles.

By Stella McQueen*

A version of this story first appeared in Forest & Bird magazine in Spring 2016.

You can make a submission to Department of Conservation supporting better whitebait rules before 2 March 2020. 

Not all “environmentally friendly” packaging is created equal, as Toby Whyte, managing director of Health Pak, one of our supporters, explains.

Which of our native plants are also natural healers? Jess Winchester finds out when she talks to naturopath Katie Stone, who works for PureNature, one of Forest & Bird’s sponsors.

Rob Fenwick talks about the influence of his ancestor Sir George Fenwick, newspaper baron and pioneer conservationist. By Caroline Wood.

*Sir Rob Fenwick died in March 2020 after battling cancer for five years.

A director of West Coast fishing company Robson Fishing Partnership/Impulse Fishing admitted the company failed to report seabird deaths for three years, in an Employment Relations Authority case.

In 2014/15 Forest & Bird achieved some notable success advocating for and protecting our natural environment and also took important steps to strengthen and focus the organisation to address the conservation priorities of the 21st century.

The bar-tailed godwit (kuaka) has been crowned New Zealand's Bird of the Year after three weeks of close competition, heated campaigning and scandal.

2013 was a landmark year as Forest & Bird members celebrated the 90th birthday with events around the country, focusing on local milestones and the work done by long-standing volunteers.

A study by PhD candidate Kyle Morrison has found that rockhopper penguins could be casualties of changes in climate.

New Zealand’s reputation as 100% Pure has long been the cornerstone of our national identity and international selling point.

One of New Zealand’s rarest birds is settling in to a new home, thanks to a translocation project at Forest & Bird’s Bushy Park sanctuary near Wanganui.

Fighting for nature can be an uphill battle during an economic recession. The government’s purse strings draw tighter and investment in our natural resources is too often seen as an unaffordable luxury.

In a year that New Zealanders coped with natural disasters and economic downturn, Forest & Bird maintained the momentum for protecting nature.

North Shore branch’s project to restore the native plants and wildlife at a volcanic cone next to the northern motorway in Auckland has been awarded the Golden Spade planting award.

An inspiring initiative led by Māori and supported by Forest & Bird could create a way forward to protect marine life. By Dean Baigent-Mercer.

Take a close look at the praying mantises in your garden. They may not be the Godzone insects you think they are, as Graeme Hill writes.

An independent panel of international fisheries experts agrees that the New Zealand hoki fishery does not merit the “sustainability tick” it has been awarded today.