News

If the future of te taiao was placed in the hands of rangatahi, what would it look like? That was the question at the heart of Te Ao Rangatahi | The Future Through a Youth Lens, a panel at the first-ever Endangered Species National Hui bringing together three inspiring young leaders already shaping biodiversity restoration, community leadership and youth engagement across Aotearoa.

At the Endangered Species National Hui, freshwater fisheries scientist and University of Waikato PhD candidate Siobhan Nuri took the audience on a journey through the lives of one of our most remarkable but declining freshwater taonga: tuna.

The Endangered Species National Hui is proud to announce an exciting new addition to its 2026 programme: Te Ao Rangatahi | The Future Through a Youth Lens, a panel bringing together three inspiring young leaders already shaping the future of biodiversity restoration, community leadership and youth engagement across Aotearoa New Zealand.

Norm Hill was out paddling waka ama on the Waikato River when he noticed rubbish caught in the reeds, clothing snagged on branches, and debris drifting past with the current. Now his grassroots community group, Kaitiaki River Sweepers, works the length of the awa, from Kirikiriroa to Cambridge and north to Ngāruawāhia, cleaning and restoring mauri (life force) to a resource that sustains us all.

Join LUSH staff, representatives from Ngāti te Wehi, ESF Co-Chair Tāwera Nikau, and General Manager Natalie Jessup at the Hamilton LUSH Māui Dolphin Event on July 14th, The Base, Hamilton.

On Friday 5 June 2026, around 1,000 students from schools across Kirikiriroa Hamilton gathered at Tauhara Park, Rototuna, for Arbor Day 2026. Together with kaiako, parents, and a community of dedicated kaimahi and funders, they planted 10,000 native trees in a single day.

Hapū led mahi to restore Toreparu Wetland Restoration South of Karioi maunga with Ngāti Whakamarurangi

Four hundred and eighty-five people gathered at Ruakākā, Te Akau Bream Bay last weekend to send an important message: some treasures are too precious to mine. The event, organised by the Bream Bay Guardians, broke an unofficial world record for the most people making sand sculptures simultaneously, surpassing the previous record of 396 set in Belgium.

Today in Cambridge, eight Waikato schools came together for Awhi Awa | Embrace a Stream workshops, run in partnership with Waikato Regional Council, EnviroSchools, and the Endangered Species Foundation.

To celebrate Conservation Week, students from South Waikato schools gathered at Jim Barnett Reserve, Waotu, for a full day of hands-on workshops focused on restoring and protecting native biodiversity.

During Conservation Week in September, Tāngaro Tuia te Ora, the Endangered Species Foundation, held workshops at Mystery Creek, to engage Bupa residents and tamariki (children) from four Waikato schools, Tamahere, Ohaupo, Rukuhia, and Kaipaki, about how to care for waterways and awhi an awa - embrace a stream. Bupa resident, tamariki and Natalie Jessup at Mystery Creek for the Drains are Streams workshop. Photographer: Lesedi Bapegi Tamariki learned about the vital role the l

Borman Village Kids, an Early Childhood Centre in Rototuna, Kirikiriroa Hamilton, has adopted two streams.

The threatened Tairāwhiti ngutukākā (kakabeak) plant has been given a chance to thrive thanks to the hard work and dedication of a small group of people on the East Coast of Aotearoa. Graeme Atkins and his team are aiming to return the ngutukākā to appropriate landscapes across Te Ika-a-Maui, with the goal of replanting and regenerating the numbers of this threatened species. The programme focuses on raising awareness of the threatened status of the plant in original habitats