Science Media Centre

The Labour Government’s first Budget focuses primarily on health, housing and education. New research and innovation initiatives include funding for the R&D tax credit announced last month, a new Green Investment Fund to help the transition to a low-carbon economy and funding towards healthier homes This page will be updated with any new announcements and expert reaction. While […]

Stuff and the NZ Herald have both been running a series of environment stories this week, with Stuff focusing on ‘forgotten species’ and the Herald quizzing scientists on the environment. Stuff science and environment report Ged Cann’s ‘Forgotten Species’ series has challenged the idea that we’re doing well on conservation, instead highlighting five species that […]

News broke last night that the US military’s science research agency has funded research into gene drives, including to a group that includes New Zealanders. Documents released to media from a lobby group suggest the US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) has become the world’s largest funder of gene drive research, putting $100m into the technology. […]

A new report from the Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment highlights the desperate situation for many native birds, despite concerted conservation efforts. While Dr Jan Wright applauds the Predator Free 2050 goal, she says a plan of action is urgently required. Among her other recommendations, she suggests a Nature Border Levy to fund conservation and […]

One of New Zealand’s iconic species, the yellow-eyed penguin or hoiho, could disappear from the mainland within decades unless there is urgent action taken to protect the remaining population. Researchers from the University of Otago sounded the alarm after modelling suggested the South Island population could become locally extinct by 2060. But even that estimate […]

Conservation Minister Maggie Barry has launched a draft strategy for protecting our threatened species. Announced during DOC’s Threatened Species Summit yesterday, the strategy outlines how the government aims to halt the decline of our threatened species and prevent others from becoming threatened. The draft strategy is open for consultation until 31 July. The strategy included a priority list of 150 […]

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 […]

On World Wildlife Day, Victoria University of Wellington’s Dr Wayne Linklater writes in the Dominion Post about his thoughts on the “native good, exotic bad” message. An excerpt (read in full): I don’t like my children being provoked to kill for conservation. And I don’t like them being taught to demonise an entire species of animal, […]

Conservation Minister Maggie Barry has just returned from a four-day trip to the Auckland Islands on the HMNZS Otago. On the trip, Barry announced that the Department of Conservation (DOC) was celebrating a 14 per cent increase in sea lion pups this year, following years of declining births on the subantarctic Auckland Islands. She said […]

Nearly six months ago the Government announced it would aim for a Predator Free New Zealand by 2050. We asked experts about the tools needed to pull off the audacious plan and what the hurdles to success might be. Please feel free to use these comments in your reporting. – Professor Neil Gemmell, University of Otago […]