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2023 Newsletters

  1. Historical newspaper articles unfold the story of the near-extinction of kākāpō

    Kākāpō, the world’s only flightless parrot, once ranged throughout the forests of Aotearoa New Zealand. However, early European observers noted the bird population declining rapidly within their own lifetimes and speculated this was due to packs of feral European dogs and other mammal predators.

  2. Core blimey: how an old Hoover revealed the secrets of a wetland

    East Coast farmer Tim Brownlie and QEII National Trust regional representative for Gisborne Malcolm Rutherford have become fascinated by the world of palaeoecology.

  3. Rats and flax: traps reveal surprising facts

    A study into birds as pollinators of plants in Aotearoa New Zealand has led to interesting questions – are rats eating precious nectar and what impact does this have on our birds?

  4. Weed busting and capacity building across the Pacific

    “We succeed only by working together in sustainable partnership” is the philosophy that underpins Manaaki Whenua’s approach to long-term solutions to issues faced by our Pacific neighbours, such as climate change, biosecurity threats, food and nutrition security, and biodiversity loss.

  5. Using artificial intelligence to monitor wildlife

    Camera traps are used for monitoring a range of wildlife species in Aotearoa New Zealand, including native and invasive animals. These cameras provide essential information on animal abundance, distribution, and behaviour, but they have one major drawback: they can produce thousands of images, many ...

  6. Survey of Rural Decision Makers No. 6

    The Survey of Rural Decision Makers (SRDM) is the leading source of information about Aotearoa New Zealand’s primary sector. Conducted by Manaaki Whenua every 2 years, thousands of farmers, foresters, growers, and lifestyle block owners from Cape Reinga / Te Rereanga Wairua to Halfmoon Bay complete ...

  7. Celebrating our achievements

    Maksym Polyakov

    A recent paper co-authored by Dr Maksym Polyakov and colleagues from the University of Western Australia, ‘Do protected areas increase household income? Evidence from a meta-analysis’, won that university’s Department of Agriculture and Resource Economics People’s Choice Award for B...

  8. Māori frameworks needed to recloak the whenua

    Noho tahanga a Papatūānuku kia whakakororwai i ai ia

    Papatūānuku [The earth mother] lays bare; we must recloak her

    – Keita Ngata (Ngāti Porou)

  9. Can mosaics of trees help to reach Aotearoa’s carbon targets?

    Increasing carbon stocks in woody vegetation will be a major contribution to Aotearoa New Zealand reaching its zero-carbon emissions target by 2050. Plantation forestry has previously been promoted as the best way to achieve large-scale carbon sequestration, but a new MBIE Endeavour research program...

  10. Interactive urban tree mapping in Wellington

    “Bridging the gap between remote sensing and tree modelling with data science" – an exciting collaboration between New Zealand and Singapore – has achieved an important milestone with the launch of an interactive urban tree map of New Zealand’s capital city.