In our summer issue, we talk to passionate conservationists on the frontline of native species recovery and habitat restoration in Aotearoa. In Southern Underbirds, former Forest & Bird Youth leader Guy McDonald explains why it’s a race against time to save the last 101 adult pukunui southern New Zealand dotterels. Meanwhile, Louise Porteous, chair of the Craigieburn Trapping Alliance, writes about protecting the rare flora and fauna of Craigieburn Valley, where volunteers are helping restore local birdlife such as kea.
We also hear from Forest & Bird staff and volunteers from our Pest Free Hibiscus Project on the Whangaparāoa Peninsula, north of Auckland. This exciting community-based trapping project has grown to cover a huge area of 3100ha from Ōrewa to Shakespear Open Sanctuary. In Nursery Champions, we find out why our Lower Hutt Branch is growing thousands of native plants from locally gathered seeds and gifting them to local restoration groups for wetland, forest, and coastal plantings.
Conservationist-writer Peter Langlands looks at how we can better protect western Pacific leatherback turtles from becoming fisheries bycatch when they visit our waters. Warming temperatures mean New Zealand’s blue backyard is now considered a seasonal home for these giants of the ocean – the world’s largest marine turtle. In another fascinating article, Dean Baigent-Mercer and Ora Barlow look at how an ambitious iwi-led conservation project is creating jobs while protecting the Raukūmara Ranges from browsing mammals.
All this and much more: Our summer campaign to keep rivers and lakes healthy and swimmable for wildlife and people this summer; New Zealand’s latest “rock stars”; hard-working snails and slugs in your garden; an exclusive short story Feather Brains to make you laugh; life on Campbell Island; saving native butterflies; and Forest & Bird’s conservation highlights and wins 2024.
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