Rangitoto Still Smouldering After 600 Years
By Felix Walton, RNZ
Council Imposes New Planning Controls on Five Barrier Sites
Five sites on Great Barrier Island have been brought under new cultural planning controls by Auckland Council, following a vote of its Policy and Planning Committee this month. The sites—Hirakimatā (Mount Hobson), Komahunga, Korotiti, Poutekorua, and Ruahine—are the first on…
Little Barrier Island Anchoring Ban as Caulerpa Crackdown Widens
Photo / Kathrin & Stefan Marks / CC
Visitor Levy Funds Poison and Trapping in National Parks
The government has announced that $22 million collected from international visitors will be used over the next three years to fund large-scale poison and trapping operations, and goat culls across New Zealand’s national parks and offshore islands. Conservation Minister Tama…
Navy divers neutralise Second World War mines in Hauraki Gulf
Royal New Zealand Navy (RNZN) divers have safely disposed of Second World War-era mines recently discovered on the seafloor near Auckland. The mines, which were more than 80 years old, were originally part of a defensive minefield laid in the…
Plastic Pellets Wash Into Hauraki Gulf
Hundreds of thousands of plastic pellets — known as nurdles — have washed up on beaches across the Hauraki Gulf, including Oneroa Beach on Waiheke Island and the northern shore of Motuihe. The pellets are used in the manufacture of…
Beneath the Ice, a Collapse Begins: How Antarctic Change Hits the Food Web
Jacqui Stuart, VUW, CC BY-NC-ND
Editorial: Kawau Island’s Poison Plan — Conservation or Chemical Catastrophe?
A new proposal could make Kawau Island the most chemically saturated inhabited island in New Zealand history. From June 2025 to April 2027, Auckland Council, with backing from DOC, Predator Free 2050 Ltd, and the Manuhiri Kaitiaki Charitable Trust, is…
Invasive Caulerpa Seaweed Detected Off Little Barrier Island
Patches of the invasive seaweed Exotic Caulerpa have been discovered at three locations off the northeast coast of Little Barrier Island, prompting a rapid response from local biosecurity and iwi groups. The seaweed, which includes the species Caulerpa brachypus and…
Caulerpa Spread Risks Billions – Report
By Susan Botting, Local Democracy Reporter, NZME