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Featured Environment stories
The low-tech solution that could save lives at sea
It's foldable, floats, and can be detected by satellites - and it's being developed by local researchers who started with origami prototypes.
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What makes Ruapehu tick - and boom?
21 Oct 2025How to predict when Ruapehu might next erupt is an important, but difficult, question. A group of researchers thought: why not recreate the volcano in a lab?
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Marine protection law creates 'dangerous precedent'
20 Oct 2025A recreational fishing advocacy group has accused the government of creating exclusive zones for commercial fishing with a new marine protection law.
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New flood map to show future risks as climate change worsens
16 Oct 2025The National Flood Map is expected to be completed by 2027, the Climate Change Minister says.
Environment headlines with summaries.
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DOC launches new cadet programme: 'It's about making a real difference'
15 Oct 2025"It's not just your fitness, it's the resilience", says DOC as it launches a new cadet programme. Audio
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Whatever happened to the pūteketeke?
14 Oct 2025Comedian John Oliver's intervention propelled the grebe to fame. But for some, the 'bird of the century' is no fleeting infatuation.
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NZ's resilience to climate change focus of new $12m research programme
8 Oct 2025Acting early on adaptation to climate risks will avoid costly losses in the future, says the programme head.
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Hauraki Gulf bill passes, with exceptions for commercial fishers
7 Oct 2025The new bill builds on decades-long efforts to protect the Hauraki Gulf from the degradation of human activities.
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Manawanui wreck still causing concerns one year after sinking
6 Oct 2025One year after HMNZS Manawanui hit a Samoan reef, locals say the compensation is needed. Audio
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Australian miner critical of opposition to Otago gold project
30 Sep 2025Getting consent for a vast gold mine is an "extremely rigourous and difficult process", the company has told shareholders.
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What does a small Irish sea inlet have to teach New Zealand scientists?
30 Sep 2025Lough Hyne is home to an island, a ruined castle - and a marine sponge mystery that Kiwi researchers are helping to unravel.
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First fluttering shearwater returns to Cape Farewell
29 Sep 2025Yonga was translocated from the Marlborough Sounds three years ago.
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Detecting cow burps from space
24 Sep 2025A methane-detecting satellite, supported by $32 million of government funding, is lost in space. What data did it manage to collect before it went dark?
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Playing 'I-spy' with urban emissions
9 Sep 2025A new lab is cruising the streets of Wellington, homing in on our urban carbon emissions.
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Fiordland Penguin chick 'thriving' at Sydney's Taronga Zoo
6 Sep 2025Now six weeks old, the zoo says the chick is in perfect health.
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Backcountry takahē make a comeback
2 Sep 2025Twice believed to be extinct, takahē are now returning to our wild spaces.
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Critically endangered giant wētā moved to new sanctuary
27 Aug 2025Almost 200 giant wētā have been moved from a breeding programme to a sanctuary in Waikato, in a bid to protect the critically endangered insects.
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Secret official memo warns of damage to diplomatic ties
The advice was mistakenly released by the Ministry for the Environment.
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Whangaparāoa rock pools pillaged, calls for rāhui
21 Aug 2025The local iwi its considering asking the minister for a temporary rāhui or halt to collecting seafood at Army Bay to allow the area to regenerate. Audio
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Consultation on cutting crayfish catch limits begins
14 Aug 2025Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says the options include seasonal or year-round closures to commercial harvesting of spiny rock lobster.
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Why congestion charging might not lower Auckland's air pollution
12 Aug 2025Congestion charges can lower emissions and travel times by putting cordons around the central city and spending the revenue on public transport, but proposals for Auckland could end up doing neither.
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Our Changing World: 40 years of Project Tongariro
5 Aug 2025Four decades after being established as a living memorial in response to a tragedy, this community conservation group is focused on the future.
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Southland lagoon at risk of ecological tipping point, warns DOC
29 Jul 2025An ecologically significant Southland lagoon that has been plagued by algal blooms could be at a tipping point.
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'Significant risk' of missing 2050 climate target, government making it worse
25 Jul 2025The government's actions have made it more likely the country won't meet its goals, a major report has found.
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Toxic algae bloom lingers off Australia, killing marine life
22 Jul 2025The algae, which damages the gills of fish and suffocates them, stretched across 4400 square kilometres when it was first spotted in mid-March.
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Lanternfish: Small fish, big impact
22 Jul 2025Researchers are investigating whether tiny lanternfish play an outsized role in controlling fish life cycles and carbon storage in the ocean.
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Flood victims will not be on their own, says chair of contentious report
Leader of expert panel clarifies recommendations on how the government should adapt to climate change, saying there should always be a social safety net. Audio
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Northland orca expert: Reject Waipiro Bay marina fast-tracking
17 Jul 2025Orca researcher Dr Ingrid Visser has called on Infrastructure Minister Chris Bishop to reject the proposed marina's fast-tracking application.
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