News

Fewer than a thousand matuku-hūrepo | Australasian bittern remain in Aotearoa. Ninety percent of their wetland habitat is gone. Now, a proposed four-lane highway threatens Doctors Hill wetland in Northland, one of the last places these taonga birds can call home.

This September, leaders at the forefront of taiao restoration will gather in Kirikiriroa Hamilton for the first ever Endangered Species National Hui.

For Conservation Week, ESF General Manager Natalie Jessup was guest editor of the Sustainable Future newsletter from Newsroom Aotearoa.

The Endangered Species National Hui 2026 is inviting iwi, rangatahi, scientists and community leaders to Kirikiriroa Hamilton this September, and Co-Chair Tāwera Nikau says the timing is critical.

A national hui bringing together iwi, communities, scientists, creatives and advocates will take place in Kirikiriroa this September, responding to the accelerating crisis facing Aotearoa’s most endangered taonga species and their habitats. The Endangered Species National Hui 2026, hosted by Tāngaro Tuia te Ora – Endangered Species Foundation (ESF), will be held on 2–3 September at Wintec, Hamilton, and is focused on moving from collaboration and kōrero, through to collecti