A strip of coastal pohutukawa forest has been "devastated" along a Takapuna beach clifftop, on and adjacent to land belonging to a Rich List developer.

If your stance on foreign ownership of prized New Zealand countryside is black or white, the case of Robert "Mutt" Lange reveals issues that are far from clear-cut.

Central Hawkes Bay's controversial Ruataniwha Dam irrigation scheme received a setback yesterday.

In the parks, beaches, back gardens and forests of the country, non-scientists can help with with a raft of research projects.

A claimed sighting of the South Island kokako, a bird declared extinct six years ago, has fuelled hopes the species could still be alive.

Former Westland mayor Durham Havill says he is forming a new private company to build a "class one highway" from Haast to Milford Sound via the Hollyford Valley.

Backers of the $170 million Fiordland monorail say the plan has public support - but a petition opposing the scheme has collected almost 20,000 signatures.

Forest and Bird says efforts to rehabilitate the Stockton Plateau after open-cast coalmining has missed the point, with bright green grass sown rather than restoring the natural tussock landscape.

The RMA exists to help work out the right conditions, as well as manage effects, which under O'Reilly's approach would not occur, writes Claire Browning.

A fight to protect significant areas of native plants on privatised land has been won by Forest and Bird in the Environment Court.

The campaign to crown this year's Bird of the Year has taken off, with gleeful insults flying between campaigners over the merits of their various fine feathered friends.