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2024 News

  1. Wetland delineation tool launched

    New revised method to map the pre-human wetland in Aotearoa New Zealand launched

  2. Celebrating our achievements

    Celebrating recent achievements of Manaaki Whenua staff

  3. Tracking the most mobile species for better conservation outcomes

    Whether the stunning migrations of shorebirds returning from coastal wintering haunts to inland river beds, flocks of feeding kereru gorging on heavily fruiting trees, or bitterns wandering unseen, many of Aotearoa New Zealand (AoNZ)’s most imperilled species move great distances throughout the year...

  4. Pico beetle to help Vanuatu combat invasive prickly solanum

    Another milestone weed biocontrol event occurred this week with Vanuatu receiving the pico beetle to tackle the spread of the invasive weed prickly solanum, known as pico weed in Vanuatu. This follows on from the successful release of the hibiscus bur lace bug in July earlier this year. This is part...

  5. Beetle arrival brings hope against hoi, the invasive air potato in Niue

    This week Niue will be welcoming a leaf-feeding beetle that researchers hope will turn the tide against the invasive weed known as air potato, or locally as hoi.

  6. How far south did Polynesian seafarers travel in prehistory?

    Prehistoric Polynesian seafarers were highly skilled and undertook some of the longest and most technically demanding voyages in prehistory – but did they ever sail into very high latitudes with landfall in Antarctica, as some scholars have argued?

  7. Losing our edges: why reserves need to be bigger

    Native shrublands were once common across the Canterbury Plains, but over time, conversion of land to other uses including irrigated pasture have contributed to their gradual decline. Now, a new study by scientists at Manaaki Whenua - Landcare Research has found that spillover of nutrients and water...

  8. Zooming out for a better view of the freshwater policy landscape

    It’s not easy being a policy-maker. The world has more humans on it than it has ever had, we are hitting environmental limits and thresholds, systems are complex, and system changes have effects that are difficult to predict.

  9. Root and branch: the importance of Aotearoa’s mangroves

    Mangrove forests conjure images of lush, hot tropical swamps rich with life: wading birds such as herons or spoonbills, crabs skittering across the mud, lizards and snakes, and somewhere perhaps the flick of a crocodile’s tail as it launches into the water. Although we don’t have the snakes or the c...

  10. Helping Māori to make informed decisions about their whenua

    There is a Tiriti obligation on the part of agencies and institutions, local government and central government to include mana whenua as part of any climate change adaptation approach, plan or policy.