Science Media Centre

The OECD’s latest report on New Zealand’s environmental performance warns that the country’s growth is starting to show environmental limits, including increased greenhouse gas emissions, freshwater contamination and threats to biodiversity. The third OECD Environmental Performance Review of New Zealand made 50 recommendations and noted the country has the largest share of greenhouse gas emissions […]

New research championing New Zealand’s conservation approach to creating predator free islands has received wide media coverage. The study, published in PNAS, collated data from invasive mammal eradication projects on island around the globe. Examining 181 different islands, the researchers found 236 species – comprising almost 600 separate populations – had benefited from eradication projects. […]

New Zealand is leading the world when it comes to preserving islands’ unique and fragile wildlife by eliminating invasive mammals, according to new research. The international team of researchers, including several New Zealanders, systematically assessed the global impact of eradicating invasive mammals, such as rats, goats and cats, from islands. Their findings, published today in […]

The Government today launched a new environmental report – Environment Aotearoa 2015 – showing the overall state of our environment. The document, jointly released by Statistics New Zealand and the Ministry for the Environment, is the first ‘State of the Environment’ report since 2007. Environment Aotearoa 2015 focuses on five areas or ‘domains’– air, atmosphere and […]

Antarctica is teeming with life, but that life needs protection, say the authors of a new review published in Nature. Recent research has revealed that the variety of life in the seemingly inhospitable Antarctic is much greater than previously thought. However the review authors – including a New Zealander – warn that without adequate protection, […]

International agreements have designated Antarctica a “natural reserve, devoted to peace and science” —  but are we doing enough to to protect it? A team of Australian researchers are calling for Antarctic biodiversity to be better protected from biological invasions and human activity, saying the last untouched wilderness on Earth is at risk. In a […]

From the Conversation. Republished here under creative commons licence. By Tracy Rout, University of Melbourne; Doug Armstrong, Massey University; Eve McDonald-Madden, CSIRO; Hugh Possingham; Nicola Mitchell, University of Western Australia, and Tara Martin, CSIRO Climate change is one of the greatest threats the world’s animals and plants are facing. In fact the world is facing […]

After two days of heated debate on the issue of cats and conservation, Economist Gareth Morgan, the man behind the highly publicised Cats to Go campaign, has explained his views in an opinion piece published by the New Zealand Herald. You can read expert responses to the campaign here, and read some of the extensive […]

Experts in freshwater quality, management and biodiversity have signed on to a series of recommendations, released today, they say are critical to turning around New Zealand’s worsening record on water quality. Polluted waterways, invasive pests and weeds, waterborne illness and the absence of legal protection for critically endangered freshwater species are among the problems highlighted […]

Is current intensification of land use damaging our waterways beyond repair?  Deteriorating water quality and arguments over access to water resources have been in the headlines a lot this year. Scientists speaking out about clean water and water resource issues have attracted significant attention, not all of it positive. Meanwhile water and land issues remain unresolved, with tensions […]