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Featured Environment stories
How to get the best payoff from solar panels
Solar now stacks up financially in all three of our biggest cities - but there are exceptions, according to a new study. Audio
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A deadly bird flu strain is coming. Are we ready?
17 Jun 2025New Zealand is one the last places in the world where H5N1 has not yet been detected.
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Bodies of four weasels found inside Zealandia eco-sanctuary
12 Jun 2025Unwanted visitors have made their way into Wellington sanctuary.
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Emperor penguin populations declining faster than expected
11 Jun 2025Previous projections showed the species would be near extinction by the end of the century. It's now much worse.
Environment headlines with summaries.
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Conservation trust prepares to dramatically scale back work
10 Jun 2025QEII National Trust relies largely on government funding, and its budget is set to shrink.
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Booming space industry could hurt ozone layer's recovery
10 Jun 2025The rapidly growing number of rocket launches could slow the recovery of the ozone layer, a NZ-led study shows.
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What is the High Seas Treaty to protect world oceans?
10 Jun 2025While many countries have agreed to take steps to protect the vast, ungoverned swathes of the world's oceans, they have yet to see their High Seas Treaty go into effect.
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Fuel tank left open caused large diesel spill at Christchurch prison
9 Jun 2025About 14,000 litres of diesel has leached into the ground at Christchurch Men's Prison, after the hatch of a fuel tank was left open.
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Solving green sea turtle mysteries
10 Jun 2025Scientists are hoping to unravel the secrets of the green sea turtles that spend their formative years along Aotearoa's shores.
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Fibreboard manufacturer fined $12k for large wastewater spill
4 Jun 2025The company responsible for a wastewater spill that killed thousands of fish in a North Canterbury creek has been convicted and fined $12,000.
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New Zealand’s air quality improving, but winter smoke still an issue
3 Jun 2025The overall improvement in air quality was thanks to individuals making good decisions about how they heated their homes or travelled around their cities.
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Antarctica's sea ice is changing, impacting the marine food web
29 May 2025Changes could ripple through ecosystems further afield with the potential to affect key fisheries in the Southern Ocean, Jacqui Stuart and Natalie Robinson write.
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Science heats up in the fire lab
29 May 2025From flaming tornadoes to burning couches, scientists are setting stuff on fire to prepare for our changing wildfire risk.
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'Nank would be chuffed' - Native bush stays in public hands thanks to donation from late conservationist
28 May 2025When Wellington's regional council placed the winning bid on a huge block of farmland and native bush in the hills behind Eastbourne, it was only possible with the help of a million-dollar donation…
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Underground storage and overhead doubts for carbon capture
28 May 2025Climate fix, or fossil fuel lifeline - the truth behind the country's first carbon capture and storage project
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Behind the scenes of the spade-toothed whale dissection
22 May 2025It made international headlines last year. What does a scientific dissection of the world's rarest whale involve?
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Amazon fires drive unprecedented global forest loss in 2024
21 May 2025Massive fires fueled by climate change led global forest loss to smash records in 2024, according to a new report.
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Government may face big hole in climate plan
A huge chunk of the nation's next emissions budget rests on a single project, which the owner now says probably won't happen.
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Burrowing into the mystery of Great Barrier Island's black petrels
15 May 2025A research team monitoring a dwindling population of tākoketai hopes to head to Ecuador to gather clues about why so many birds never make it back to Aotearoa.
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'Heat a bigger problem than anticipated': Auckland prepares for climate change realities
12 May 2025However, figures show our biggest city is way off target.
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Canterbury council's freshwater management challenged in court
12 May 2025The first of two back-to-back court cases challenging the Canterbury regional council's freshwater management begins at the Christchurch High Court today.
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Native jumping spider found in restored Rotorua forest
12 May 2025A native jumping spider boasting great eyesight and tiny genitalia has been discovered at a Rotorua forest that is being restored.
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The good news about NZ's 10 million fossil-fuelled machines
7 May 2025New Zealand has 10 million fossil-fuelled machines, and more than 80 percent of them could be replaced by electric alternatives, according to a new report. Audio
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Winners of 2024 Prime Minister's Science Prizes announced
6 May 2025From helpful plant-fungus combos, to studying anxiety - the latest Prime Minister's Science Prizes have been awarded.
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Studying Fiordland's iconic black corals
1 May 2025Fiordland's protected black corals provide crucial habitat. But how resilient are they to change?
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Rare orchids reintroduced into the wild
24 Apr 2025The 'nationally critical' Cooper's orchid population has been boosted by lab-grown seedlings.
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A rescue mission saving rare freshwater mussels
18 Apr 2025An Auckland Council project offers hope for kākahi in decline.
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Forest owners push back on watchdog report
15 Apr 2025Forest owners say taking forestry out of the Emissions Trading Scheme would have widespread implications for New Zealand's climate goals.
