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cobweb hanger

Hallowe’en cobwebs are frighteningly good DNA collectors

They’re usually spun to make spooky Hallowe’en decorations, but new research from the University of Waikato and the Bioeconomy Science In...

Koekoeā | Eudynamys taitensis | Long-tailed cuckoo

Research aims to solve mystery cuckoo movements

Scientists from the Bioeconomy Science Institute and Department of Conservation (DOC) aim to understand the mysterious movements of koeko...

Left to right: Melissa Lee (List MP, Mt Albert), Mark Piper (Bioeconomy Science Institute CEO), Hon Dr Shane Reti (Minister for Science Innovation and Technology), Willy-John Martin (MBIE, Director Māori Science, Innovation and Technology), Stacey Whitior

Bioeconomy Science Institute to lead $42 million Biodiscovery Platform

A new funding platform, led by the Bioeconomy Science Institute, will support the discovery and development of bio-based products from Ao...

Soil coring on agricultural land.

Benchmark results from the national soil carbon monitoring system for agricultural land in New Zealand

Soil organic carbon (SOC) is critical to soil health. It’s the basis of the soil food web and it plays an important role in maintaining s...

  1. The effect of rising CO2 levels on carbon stocks in pasture and forest ecosystems

    Primarily as a result of fossil fuel burning, the amount of CO2 in the atmosphere continues to rise far above pre-industrial concentrations of 280 parts per million (ppm)– it is currently around 422 ppm and increasing by about 2.5 ppm per year. Increasing CO2 concentrations influences plant growth a...

  2. He Ngahere, He Korowai: Resilient land use strategies for whenua Māori

    Focssing on resilient landscapes on highly erosion-prone whenua Māori (Māori land) for future generations

  3. Recognising kaitiakitanga responsibilities in climate change resilience

    There is a Te Tiriti o Waitangi obligation on the part of agencies and institutions, including local and central government, to include mana whenua as genuine partners in any climate change adaptation approach, plan or policy

  4. He Whenua Kanorau, He Whenua Manawaroa: Diverse and resilient landscapes

    Examining the social, cultural and historical factors that impede transitioning towards more diverse whenua Māori.

  5. Moving the Middle – a progress report

    Aiming to give rural land managers greater confidence to improve their environmental performance voluntarily

  6. Agents of change

    This research area looks at a wide range of different agents of positive environmental change on land. It is particularly interested in potentially powerful, but indirect change agents, such as artists, who influence what happens on the land. Our research investigates what such agents do and how it ...

  7. How schools help influence positive environmental activity on land

    Schools and their teachers play an important role in building foundational skills that will support pro-environmental activity throughout life.

  8. Strategic, tactical, complex, and simple: a four-way schema for measuring on-farm change

    In the face of climate and other environmental change, regulatory and economic changes, farmers are always under pressure to redesign and improve their systems and to adopt new practices. Some change in practice (e.g. doing something completely different to existing ways) are more complex than other...

  9. Tell us what you want, what you really, really want

    Surveys that include measures of people’s well-being are widely used at the national scale to measure social progress and to inform environmental, social and economic decision-making. Well-being frameworks generally encompass aspects of housing, income, personal health, access to green space and rec...

  10. Survey of Rural Decision Makers 2025: a vital tool in the ag-sector toolbox

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