Conservation Minister Tama Potaka has announced $1 million from the International Visitor Conservation and Tourism Levy (IVL) to upgrade tracks and campgrounds around Tarawera and Ōkataina.

The investment will help reopen the Eastern Ōkataina Walkway and support upgrades across more than 22 kilometres of tracks and three campgrounds.

“Tarawera and Ōkataina are some of Rotorua’s most iconic visitor destinations, attracting thousands of people every year and supporting local tourism and jobs,” Mr Potaka says.

“This funding will improve tracks, campgrounds, toilets, and visitor facilities, while also helping address safety and resilience issues following the 2021 rockfall event that closed the Eastern Ōkataina Walkway.”

The upgrades will include work on the Eastern Ōkataina Walkway, Northern Tarawera Track, Tarawera Falls Track, Humphries Bay Campsite, and Te Tapahoro Campground.

“Ngāti Rangitihi, Tūhourangi, Ngāti Tarāwhai, Ruawahia 2B Trust, and the Lake Ōkataina Scenic Reserve Board all play an important role in the future of this area and the experiences it offers visitors.”

The project will also support wallaby control and wider biodiversity work across the area.

“This announcement also shows why the Government is reforming conservation legislation.”

“The Conservation Amendment Bill currently before Parliament is about making it easier to deliver practical upgrades like this in the future.

“For too long, outdated processes have slowed investment into tracks, huts, campgrounds, and visitor infrastructure on conservation land.

“Our reforms will help cut unnecessary delays while maintaining strong environmental protections and reinvesting back into conservation.”

MIL OSI

Kiwifruit orchards are humming mid-harvest, but Zespri is concerned port bottlenecks are becoming a real pressure point for its fruit exports.

The Port of Tauranga is the critical gateway for most of New Zealand’s lucrative kiwifruit from growing hub Bay of Plenty to the world.

Orchardists were expected to produce around 220 million trays of fruit – equating to around 6.6 billion pieces of fruit – for export this season.

Zespri chief executive Jason Te Brake said plans to double those exports in the next decade would depend on efficient ports, freight connections and well-functioning road infrastructure.

“Port bottlenecks are becoming a real pressure point for the kiwifruit industry,” said Te Brake.

“Around 95 percent of Zespri’s New Zealand fruit is exported through the Port of Tauranga, so congestion or capacity constraints directly affect our ability to get fruit to market on time, protect quality and deliver strong returns to growers.”

Te Brake said constrained transport and port networks increased costs, emissions and undermined confidence for investors.

“With around 80 percent of our fruit grown in the Bay of Plenty, continued investment in road and port infrastructure is critical – including upgrading access through the Mount Maunganui industrial area via the Connecting Mount Maunganui project, improving productivity and resilience for freight movements to and from the Port, and delivering additional port capacity to support future growth.”

Port constrained to new vessels

Port of Tauranga chief executive Leonard Sampson said while there was no bottleneck as such at present, because product was moving through, its container terminal was particularly constrained.

“We’re at capacity at the moment and unfortunately we’re unable to take any further container vessels at the container terminal, so that really is a potential bottleneck for the kiwifruit industry.”

Sampson said it had known about the kiwifruit industry’s growth ambitions for years, and was committed to growing its services.

“At the moment we’re getting it through on the services that we have, but ultimately, with the aspirations of Zespri and the potential doubling of that cargo over the next 10 years, it could mean exactly that; fruit loss, delays in terms of getting that refrigerated cargo away.

“And ultimately, it potentially makes a number of orchards or that growth unviable, because there’s simply just not that capacity to get the cargo away.”

Sampson said infrastructural constraints meant it had to decline an international shipping line recently, despite benefits like greater competition and more shipping availability it would have provided.

He declined to comment on the name of the company.

“We have a situation where we’ve unfortunately had to turn away an international service to a new market,” he said.

“That international service offered somewhere between $70-90 million of ocean freight savings back to New Zealand’s importers and exporters.

“That’s obviously revenue that would have otherwise been back in the New Zealand economy, but unfortunately we’re unable to realise it.”

The port was about seven years into trying to secure a consent for its Stella Passage berth and wharf extension, currently still under consideration for a second fast-track application.

Sampson said it re-applied for a fast track approval for the project, because the constrained nature at the port was costing exporters and importers.

Among opposition to the project was local iwi Ngāti Kuku, supported by Ngā Hapū o Ngā Moutere, due to proposed dredging, land reclamation and other issues.

“Port of Tauranga has been unable to reach agreement with opposing iwi and hapū parties on the appropriate level of mitigation for the cultural impacts of the development,” the port said in an earlier statement.

The Environmental Protection Authority had appointed an expert panel to consider the new fast-track application, with a decision due in September.

Shipping still coming, but they’ve increased prices

In light of the fuel crisis, brought on by the US-Israel war in the Persian Gulf, leaders from the port joined Prime Minister Christopher Luxon in Singapore recently on his fuel security mission.

Sampson said export cargo ships were arriving on time and with little disruption, despite the fuel situation, though he said shipping services had increased their costs.

“It’s pleasing that … at this point in time, we haven’t seen any deterioration of shipping services.

“So there’s been no reduction in the shipping services coming to New Zealand, nor a deterioration in the on-time performance. In fact, it’s better than it was this time last year.”

Sampson said last month’s Cyclone Vaianu caused more disruption to the port recently than the impact of fuel.

But he said the fuel situation had led to a slowdown in some commodity exports.

“We are starting to see from a cost perspective, however, that some of the cost of fuel flowing through to the shipping prices, we are seeing a slowdown in some commodities, particularly the likes of some of the forestry commodities.”

He said around 30 percent of New Zealand’s export logs went through the Bay of Plenty port, as well as many pulp and paper products from nearby North Island forests and mills.

“It’s a challenge, and unfortunately, I guess it’s one of those commodities – unlike kiwifruit that that will need to be picked and sent – the trees can potentially not get harvested and they can be delayed for a period of time before they need to to be harvested, and wait for commodity prices to improve.”

Sampson said half of all New Zealand’s containerised exports went through the Port of Tauranga, and it was a busy period for red meat exports at the moment.

“We’re seeing strong volumes of of red meat going through the port at the moment.”

He said a number of meat containers were sent back and re-shipped at the start of the war, but most found connections to the Middle East on other shipping services via North or Southeast Asia.

“But you know, that does obviously come at a higher cost as well.”

Te Brake said Zespri strongly supported the Western Bay of Plenty Regional Deal application, as certainty from government would be met with private capital.

Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero, a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.

– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

The Government is amending the Hazardous Substances and New Organisms Act to speed up access to new agricultural and horticultural products for farmers, growers and industry, Environment Minister Nicola Grigg announced today.

The changes mean that New Zealand farmers and growers can access products that are available overseas more easily to control pests and invasive species, and for crop protection. 

“These changes remove unnecessary barriers and improve efficiency to put New Zealand businesses on an even playing field with their overseas competitors.”

 The amendment bill builds on recommendations from a 2024 Ministry for Regulation review. 

“The Review found that while the current system effectively manages risks, the approval pathway is too slow and complex and adds unnecessary costs to businesses.” 

“Streamlining processes will give agrichemical companies, farmers, horticulturalists and other industries certainty and clearer regulatory pathways for new products.”   

 The proposed amendments also address the Review’s recommendation that duplication can be reduced by making better use of assessments by overseas regulators, while maintaining New Zealand-specific protections.

“Better regulatory settings for new products will support New Zealand’s primary sector to stay globally competitive and unlock growth and export potential,” Ms Grigg says. 

The role of the Environmental Protection Authority as an independent regulatory decision maker is unchanged.  

 “The proposed amendments do not weaken current protections for people or the environment. They are about improving processes through smarter regulation and reflect the Government’s commitment to regulation that’s fit for purpose and effective.” 

MIL OSI

MIL OSI

Date:  14 May 2026

The call comes after a male New Zealand sea lion/pakake pup was found dead on a Catlins coastal road with injuries consistent with being struck by a vehicle.

DOC Murihiku Operations Manager John McCarroll says the death of the animal is a sad reminder of why drivers in the area should always be vigilant – especially at night.

“Otago and Southland are becoming a hot spot for pakake, with numbers growing each year. This means we should expect to see more pakake in coastal areas – and when roads intersect with their natural habitat, we need to always be on the lookout,” John says.

“There were only nine pups born in the Catlins area this season, so losing one will still have an impact on the population here overall.”

The incident was reported to DOC on 7 May. A five-month-old male sea lion was found on the side of Hinahina Rd near the Catlins Boating Club.

John says the return of pakake to our coastlines is a conservation success story, particularly when the main populations in the New Zealand subantarctic continue to face decline.

“Our coastal communities can be excellent advocates for the species, and everyone has a role to play in keeping both the wildlife and themselves safe.

“Keep speeds down, always be on the lookout and be prepared to stop – you never know what’s around the corner.

“If you come across an injured pakake while out naturing, please contact us on 0800 DOC HOT so we can respond accordingly.”

Anyone with any information on the recent incident is encouraged to contact DOC.

Background information

New Zealand sea lions are one of the rarest sea lion species in the world and are only found in New Zealand. Most of the population are found in the New Zealand subantarctic, at Campbell and Auckland islands, however there are emerging colonies on mainland New Zealand.

A population near Dunedin became the first mainland population to birth more than 35 pups – the minimum number to reach breeding colony status – earlier this year.

New Zealand sea lions have a conservation status of Nationally Endangered.

Contact

MIL OSI

Date:  25 March 2026 Source:  Office of the Minister of Conservation

As part of this next phase, the focus shifts to scaling up predator elimination across New Zealand, building on the work already underway in communities, strengthening coordination, and using improved tools and technology to move from local projects to larger, sustained impact.

“In Wellington Te Whanganui-a-Tara, that means extending predator control across the whole city, with more traps, more monitoring, and more action on the ground to bring back native wildlife and strengthen the city’s appeal as a destination.

“This is a coordinated push across the whole city. Practical action that people will notice in their neighbourhoods, with more native species returning and thriving.”

The Department of Conservation will invest $5.5 million over five years to support Predator Free Wellington Te Whanganui-a-Tara, working alongside Capital Kiwi and Zealandia Te Māra a Tāne. The phased operation will target introduced predators across 18,500 hectares, benefiting more than 200,000 residents and 20,000 businesses.

This work is part of a wider shift to expand what works, advance new tools, and prepare for rollout across New Zealand.

“We are committed to backing our environment and our economy at the same time.

“Wellington Te Whanganui-a-Tara already attracts visitors, and as native wildlife returns, it opens up opportunities to grow conservation-based tourism, supporting local businesses and jobs.”

More than 9,000 community trapping projects are now active nationwide, alongside large-scale programmes already delivering results. 

This next step focuses on scaling those efforts, using improved tools and coordination to move from local gains to sustained, citywide impact.

“Wellington Te Whanganui-a-Tara is leading that shift, showing how we scale this work across the country.”

This phase focuses on predator elimination that can work at scale in towns and cities, creating a model that can be applied across New Zealand over time.

Contact

MIL OSI

Date:  14 May 2026

The Department of Conservation has been working with pest control developer, Connovation, to develop and register a ready-made bait containing the toxin PAPP (para-aminopropiophenone), to which stoats are especially susceptible.

Stoats are relentless killers of native birds, bats and other wildlife, and the key cause of kiwi population decline on the mainland. They are on the target list for removal in New Zealand’s Predator Free 2050 programme.

DOC Principal Science Advisor Elaine Murphy, who has led the PAPP sausage bait development over nine years, says the recent field trials were very successful.

“Over the past three years we’ve carried out two hand-laid trials and two aerial trials using PAPP sausage baits in the Borland valley in Fiordland National Park, which regularly has high stoat numbers but few rats.

“All the trials were very successful. Stoat detection was reduced by more than 95 per cent in the treatment areas following the hand-laid bait application and no stoats were detected in the treatment areas after the two aerial trials.

“This is an amazing result considering we only used one bait per 4-8 ha in the hand-laid trials and one bait per hectare in the aerial trials.”

The first two trials involved hand-laying baits over about 1000 ha in the forest. A prefeed of non-toxic baits to prime the stoats was followed by two rounds of PAPP bait, a week apart.

The later aerial trials covered 2,000-4,800 ha with one non-toxic prefeed and a single application of PAPP bait. Stoats were monitored before and after the operations and in non-treatment areas using trail cameras and tracking tunnels.

Current stoat control methods are limited to labour-intensive trapping and aerial 1080 predator control operations that rely on stoats eating poisoned rodents.

New tools are needed to target stoats in environments where there are few rodents and when they invade pest-free islands, says Elaine Murphy.

“It’s taken many years to develop and test this sausage bait but it’s now showing great promise. New tools like this are key to achieving Predator Free 2050 and supporting native wildlife to thrive.”

DOC will apply to register the PAPP sausage bait for stoats with the EPA (Environmental Protection Authority) and MPI (Ministry for Primary Industries) once research is complete later this year.

An application will also be made for another sausage bait containing small amounts of the toxin 1080 (sodium fluoroacetate), which has been extensively trialled over the past few years, targeting feral cats, mustelids and hedgehogs.

DOC is also planning field trials with a higher dose PAPP sausage bait for feral cats and ferrets after earlier trials showed promise.

PAPP was registered for use in New Zealand for stoats and feral cats in a paste form in 2011, but its use has been limited because it needs to be inserted in hand-made minced meat baits, which is impractical.

Carnivores such as stoats are particularly sensitive to PAPP but most birds and other mammals are less so. The potential risk to native birds from PAPP baits is considered very limited due to very low application rates in the environment and general low susceptibility.

Background information

PAPP is considered more humane than most other toxins used to control vertebrates. It causes low blood oxygen levels, rapid unconsciousness and death, typically within two hours. There is low risk of other animals being poisoned from eating dead stoats and there is an antidote.

Non-lethal testing of PAPP to assess risk for native birds has shown a range of responses. Kea and black-backed gulls are highly tolerant, while pūkeko and takahē are more susceptible, although they wouldn’t be affected if they ate a single bait. Kiwi and weka are potentially more sensitive but kiwi have shown no interest in the meat baits in trials to date. A further trial with weka is planned to gauge their susceptibility to PAPP sausage baits.

Contact

MIL OSI

Date:  14 May 2026

The trip into the Matemateāonga Range was Department of Conservation Ranger Shane Woolley’s last helicopter mission prior to his retirement at the end of this month.

“We had a good team in there,” says Shane. “We removed all the burnt iron from the old hut, cleaned up a few trees for safety – it’s all clean and level now, like there was never a hut. We also brought in a water collector, so visitors don’t get caught out.

“The three days out there were all hard work and laughter, which is what my time at DOC has been about,” says Shane, while packing up his DOC accommodation in Pipiriki.

Shane’s initial job with DOC in Pipiriki was meant to last six months.

“Then 26 years later…,” he laughs.

“The place grabs a hold of you, it’s hard to get away from the river. And there’s nothing like this team, you can’t beat these funny, cheeky buggers!”

“It’s been an amazing time and not just on the home front, either. Working with DOC gave me the opportunity to deploy internationally to fight fires in Canada, and Australia several times in the last ten years or so. Their fires are huge and angry; I will never forget those life-changing experiences.”

“But we all gotta move on sometime, and I’ve got mokos to spoil”, Shane says.

“I’m definitely going to miss it all.”

The 11 December 2025 fire destroyed the Pouri Hut, with Fire and Emergency New Zealand unable to determine a cause. Wood burners and cooking equipment were ruled out.

Visitors planning on naturing along the Matemateonga Track are urged to bring their own tent if they plan to stay overnight between Oamari and Ngapurua Huts.

DOC Whanganui is working on options for a replacement hut.

Contact

MIL OSI

HKUST Led Project Marks Hong Kong’s First Scientific Payload on the National Space Station

– Published and distributed with permission of Media-Outreach.com.

One of New Zealand’s rarest plant species is getting another shot at survival, after plummeting to just two known plants in the wild.

About 250 Craspedia argentia seedlings are this week being planted at Mahaka Katia Scientific Reserve in Central Otago following years of painstaking hand-pollination, propagation and care by conservationists and botanists.

Department of Conservation senior technical adviser in ecology Richard Ewans said the project was effectively an 11th-hour rescue mission for the woollyhead herb, which was endemic to the Pisa Flats.

“We’ve been really concerned about this plant disappearing…. so we knew we had to intervene and start a programme of breeding,” he said.

Botanist Geoffrey Rogers, who has studied the rare flora of the Otago drylands for much of his career, said Craspedia argentia numbers had been dropping even under the protection of the reserve.

As the population thinned and the pollination network broke down, researchers managed to collect just three seeds in one season – two of which germinated.

“All of these plants going back into the ground – now hundreds – were derived from those two plants,” he said.

To build up numbers, staff at the Dunedin Botanic Garden spent about two years carefully cross-pollinating and hand-pollinating flowers, Ewans said.

“We initially thought we might be dealing with 20 or 30 plants to translocate back, but we had really good success with the group, particularly at the Botanic Gardens. Their work has been amazing. We produced about 800 seeds from the first season … and that turned into about 300 seedlings,” he said.

“We’ve cracked a bit of a code around how to grow the plants now so we’re confident we can keep producing plants.”

Apprentice Jess Freeman was among several Dunedin Botanic Garden staff involved in nursing the plants through propagation.

“We’ve just kind of looked after the babies, nursed them up, counted seed from them, and stored them in our fridge,” she said

Dunedin Botanic Garden botanist Tom Myers said the species had become personally significant for staff working with it.

“It really speaks to me of this habitat. Like I’ve always loved coming through Central Otago, and it clearly is well suited to this habitat,” he said.

In Alexandra, home-based propagator Dhana Pillai also helped raise plants destined for the reserve and harden them off by gradually introducing them to the Central Otago climate.

“They’re quite fussy plants – sometimes they don’t look so good. And you think, oh, what’s going wrong here? What have I done? Have they got too much water?,” she said.

“It’s really great to be part of this project. I’m learning so much about these plants, and there’s still a long way to go.”

The newly planted seedlings would be closely monitored through winter via monthly visits and a trail camera, with the hope they would establish roots and survive their first Central Otago summer, Ewans said.

Saving the Craspedia argentia was only one step in a much larger restoration effort at Mahaka Katia Scientific Reserve, Rogers said.

“We’re rescuing a species, but really what we want to do is rescue an ecosystem, and all of the flow of nutrients and energy and animal food webs that are associated.”

Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero, a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.

– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

MIL OSI

The popular Milford Track was mostly sold out within half-an-hour of bookings opening, with thousands queuing online to secure a spot.

There were about 7000 available for the ‘Great Walk’.

Last year, the Department of Conservation (DOC) upgraded its online booking system to include a virtual queue to help manage peak demand after multiple crashes in previous years.

In 2023, the booking website crashed for several hours when 10,000 people tried to book the Milford Track at once, with further crashes in 2024.

DOC heritage and visitors director Cat Wilson said demand was intense from the moment bookings opened, with about 13,500 users already in line – higher than the roughly 12,000 users recorded last year.

“The Milford Track remains one of New Zealand’s most sought-after experiences, and we saw extraordinary demand again this morning,” Wilson said.

“Despite the very high traffic volumes, the booking platform performed well and people moved steadily through the queue.”

Wilson encouraged people to consider off-peak times, other Great Walks and other tracks and huts.

“There are still fantastic experiences available outside the busiest summer months, and people should also continue checking the booking system as cancellations and changes do occur throughout the season,” she said.

“It’s fantastic to see so many people planning adventures and getting excited about naturing in some of Aotearoa’s most special places.”

Bookings for the remaining Great Walks, huts and campsites continue to open on staggered dates this month.

Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero, a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.

– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

After 15 years of negotiations three Hauraki iwi Claims Settlement Bills – Ngāti Rāhiri Tumutumu, Ngāti Tara Tokanui, and Ngāti Hei have passed final reading in Parliament today, Treaty of Waitangi Negotiations Minister Paul Goldsmith says.

“All three Hauraki iwi entered formal negotiations with the Crown in 2011 and have worked persistently and in good faith over many years to reach this point.

“The passage of this settlement legislation reflects the commitment, resilience, and determination of Ngāti Rāhiri Tumutumu, Ngāti Tara Tokanui, and Ngāti Hei, and I acknowledge the significant efforts of their negotiating teams over more than a decade.

“I also want to acknowledge the people of Ngāti Rāhiri Tumutumu, Ngāti Tara Tokanui, Ngāti Hei, and others from the wider Pare Hauraki Collective who travelled to Parliament today to witness this auspicious occasion, and those who watched the passing of these Bills online from Hauraki. Their presence underscores the deep intergenerational significance of this moment.

“Through these settlements, the Crown has formally acknowledged the cumulative impacts of its historical breaches of te Tiriti o Waitangi / the Treaty of Waitangi. These breaches contributed to loss of whenua, environmental harm and constrained the ability of these iwi to provide for their present and future generations.

“While no settlement can fully compensate for the Crown’s injustices towards Ngāti Rāhiri Tumutumu, Ngāti Tara Tokanui and Ngāti Hei, I sincerely hope this redress will support these Hauraki iwi to strengthen their economic, cultural and environmental aspirations, and provides a platform for enduring relationships between the Crown and iwi for generations to come.”

The settlements provide a foundation for renewed relationships, and include agreed historical accounts, Crown acknowledgements of its historical breaches of the Treaty of Waitangi and a formal Crown apology to each iwi. 

Ngāti Rāhiri Tumutumu will receive total financial and commercial redress of $5.5 million; the right to purchase two commercial redress properties; and the vesting of 17 individual and two joint cultural redress properties. 

Ngāti Tara Tokanui will receive total financial and commercial redress of $6 million; the right to purchase for two years after the settlement date, the Paeroa College school site (land only) subject to its lease-back to the Crown; and the vesting of seven individual and two joint cultural redress properties. 

Ngāti Hei will receive total financial and commercial redress of $8.5 million; the ability to purchase three commercial properties; and the vesting of 15 individual and two joint cultural redress properties. 

All three iwi have protocols with the Ministry for Culture and Heritage and the Ministry for Primary Industries as well as a relationship agreement with the Department of Conservation.

Ngāti Rāhiri Tumutumu is located around Te Aroha and their area of interest includes Te Aroha, the Kaimai range to Katikati and Te Puna, the Hauraki Plains, and Coromandel Peninsula.

Ngāti Tara Tokanui is located around Paeroa in the Hauraki region.

Ngāti Hei is located on the eastern seaboard of the Coromandel Peninsula from Onemana to Whangapoua. Their area of interest is centred around Tairua and Ahuahu and includes offshore islands extending north to Cuvier Island.

The Ngāti Rāhiri Tumutumu Deed of Settlement is available at: Te Tari Whakatau – Ngāti Rāhiri Tumutumu. Its Claims Settlement Bill is at Ngāti Rāhiri Tumutumu Claims Settlement Bill | New Zealand Legislation.

The Ngāti Tara Tokanui Deed of Settlement is available at: Te Tari Whakatau – Ngāti Tara Tokanui. Its Claims Settlement Bill is at Ngāti Tara Tokanui Claims Settlement Bill | New Zealand Legislation.

The Ngāti Hei Deed of Settlement is available at: Te Tari Whakatau – Ngāti Hei. Its Claims Settlement Bill is at Ngāti Hei Claims Settlement Bill | New Zealand Legislation.

MIL OSI

Remnant wetlands are hard to come by in Canterbury.

Since the mid-1800s, nearly 90 percent of the area’s original natural environment has been lost, according to [file:///C:/Users/asatya/Downloads/Ausseiletal2008WONIwetlands_All_Final.pdf a 2008 Manaaki Whenua – Landcare research paper.]

Environment Canterbury’s principal biodiversity advisor for wetlands, Jason Butt, said Canterbury experienced some of the highest levels of historic wetland loss, largely due to drainage and land use change.

So when Baden and Judith Sommerville found naturally seeded snow tussock and mānuka on their Springburn farm, they knew it was worth protecting.

“It used to be summer grazing when the family first took over this farm in 2013,” son Campbell Sommerville said, looking out over the now six-hectare wetland.

“Come springtime… you do get woken up by the birds before you get woken up by an alarm around here.”

Follow Country Life on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, iHeart or wherever you get your podcasts.

The wetland discovery began the first of many long-term restoration projects on Somerview Farm, continued by Campbell Sommerville and his fiancée Sonja Vreugdenhil today.

Planting streams, carrying out monthly water quality checks, and culling pests are routine for the pair.

Hares are a major issue, making light work of native shrubs which have been planted in the wetlands and around streams, Sommerville said.

“If one farm does a good hunt, and gets rid of a lot, they just come in from neighbouring farms.

“That’s why the catchment’s working so hard on pests.

“If everyone’s doing it around [us] we’re more likely to get on top of them, and [protect] the investment we’re putting into the natives and the wetlands.”

Will Wright added: “The possum doesn’t know that your farm ends there and starts there.”

He is the facilitator for the Ashburton Forks catchment group, a collective of farmers working to manage and improve the health of their waterways, like the Sommervilles and Vreugdenhil.

Formed in 2023, the 28 group members manage 11,000 hectares of land within the Forks area, Staveley and Alford Forest.

Among the jobs Wright does is trap-setting on properties and facilitating water quality tests, such as nitrate tests or eDNA (environmental DNA) tests, which discern which creatures are present in certain waterways.

He also helps connect farmers who are newer to restoration work with those who’ve been doing it for decades – like Mark and Jenny McDonald.

The pair own Red Cow Farm, a unique milking shorthorn and friesian operation on the north branch of the Ashburton River.

They’ve been planting out their property’s streams and wetlands with native flora since 2008.

“All this was gorse and broom; the whole stream was sort of clogged up with weeds,” Mark said.

“I’ve always been interested in native trees, and I love a project.”

With native seedlings not often found at the garden shop in 2008, Mark found himself wandering the foothills to source his own. Almost 20 years later, the stream bed takes care of itself.

“It’s just a really nice feeling when you come down here now, with things established.”

The McDonalds’ efforts have brought back some native wildlife: eels and Canterbury galaxiids have been spotted in the wetland, and fantails often flit around the planting.

“We haven’t got natives back here, apart from the fantails and warblers. I look forward to the day when we get tui and bellbirds and maybe wood pigeons.

“That’ll take time, but I’m sure it will happen.”

That will come with more planting and continued pest control – assisted by automatic traps he secured through the catchment.

“We’ve got a couple of grandkids now, and every time they come out to stay, we have to come down and check the traps to see if there’re any, what do they call them? Dirty rotten scoundrels.”

Over its three years, the catchment has culled around 6500 pests.

Massive progress, but for Mark McDonald, this restoration work is only the beginning of a long environmental journey – one that will outlast him, and be passed on to future generations.

“Right back at the start, I planted a matai down in amongst the willows there,” he said. “A matai has a juvenile stage of about 60 years.

“I’m not planting for our own satisfaction, it’s for the future.”

– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

Whakatane council is looking to restore a walk that is said to capture the essence of the town but with little council funding.

Local councils have had expenditures piling up from water services to storm repairs and now a planned rates cap casting a shadow on how councils can maintain public amenities.

Whakatane’s Nga Tapuwae o Toi walkway is currently facing this issue, after rainfall and slips left parts of the track damaged.

The loop track spans over around 18 kilometres, going from town and around Kohi Point then over to Ōhope Beach.

While the track was not entirely closed there were parts of it that remain inaccessible and people needed to walk onto the road to complete the loop.

The district council’s general manager community experience Alexandra Pickles told Nine to Noon they were hoping for a community initiative to help fund the restoration of the special walk.

“We believe it’s a national treasure. It’s not only accessible right from the centre of town, it has a significant cultural history.”

The track is home to one of Aotearoa’s earliest known pā sites, the eponymous ancestor of Ngā Te Awa Toi. The name of the walkway itself translates to “the footsteps of Toi”

“It was an area that was travelled hundreds of years ago and is a beautiful place just to enjoy. We also have one of New Zealand’s only urban Kiwi populations right there as well.”

Given the track’s significance, the Department of Conservation had been interested in establishing the walkway as a “great one-day walk”.

However, as beautiful as the walk is, Pickles said the geology had presented some challenges.

“It is quite soft in terms of the composition of the rock with sandstone and greywacke, which likes to crumble and fall over time.”

She said significant rainfall in 2022 had caused a major slip in the section that goes from the West End Beach in Ōhope over to to Ōtarawairere Bay, which closed the track for that period of time.

Council had been able to put in some funding at the time and acquired some tourism infrastructure funding to carry out storm damage repairs. However, it wasn’t long before more damage had struck.

“Just as that funding was approved, we had another significant slip… which meant that there was now a greater requirement to understand what the repair might look like and what that would cost, knowing that it would be significant.”

She said since the first slip they had been able to identify engineered solutions but costs to execute these solutions stood in the way.

“The cost of those are taking us down to the millions of dollars in order to complete the entirety of that and with our health and safety obligations to do that in a way that’s taking all steps that are reasonably practicable.”

Pickles said they had rallied a group of volunteers with varied expertise and a joint passion for the walkway.

The next step was to put out a request for proposal that would give community-based people with skills an opportunity to help fund the restoration in a safe and feasible way.

“If it plays out how we would like it to play out, then this could be a model for other things that, during fiscal constraints, mean that councils and communities can work together in order to get the best outcomes, not just rate-funded outcomes.”

Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero, a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.

– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

The government is pushing on with conservation reforms it says cut red tape and enable fees for foreign tourists visiting New Zealand’s premium natural areas.

The opposition warns it opens up 60 percent of the conservation estate to sale, and changes how current treaty settlements are interpreted.

The Conservation Amendment Bill passed its first reading supported by the coalition parties, and opposed by the opposition – 68 votes to 54.

Conservation Minister Tama Potaka – who called it the most significant reform to conservation law in 40 years – said it was about modernising the management of conservation land and supporting economic growth.

The bill enables international visitors to be charged a levy for access to some areas of conservation land, with the minister saying those details would be worked out at a later date.

“Yes, we are going to charge foreigners to go on some tracks around the country,” Potaka told Parliament.

“Conservation and economic development do not sit in opposition to one another all the time. Done properly they can support one another – that’s what we believe in.”

The bill also makes changes to how concessions – permissions for tourism and other operations on conservation land – are managed; enables “amenity areas” where buildings like toilets or potentially eateries could be established; simplifies planning in line with the Resource Management Act (RMA) reforms; and amends or clarifies how Treaty Settlement and Takutai Moana rights are upheld.

Labour’s conservation spokesperson Priyanca Radhakrishnan warned it would also open up 60 percent of conservation land to being sold, including areas home to species considered ‘at risk’ rather than endangered – like the Lewis Pass beech forests.

She said it went far further than modernisation.

“It’s a sneaky, egregious bill that goes so much further, it is the most significant rollback of conservation protections in a generation and it puts commercialisation over conservation. And that minister should be ashamed.”

The Greens co-leader Marama Davidson was similarly outraged, saying the coalition had chosen to put profit over the environment – particularly given the $135 million in cuts to the Department of Conservation during this term.

She said it would also put more power in the hands of ministers, while reducing independent and public oversight.

The ACT Party’s Cameron Luxton argued the changes would prioritise people.

“For too long, New Zealand has had a conservation system that often treats people as the problem. It has treated a new track, a new hut, a new wharf, a better facility … or a business who’s looking to provide an experience, as something suspicious before it’s even been considered.”

NZ First’s Andy Foster welcomed the faster processing of concessions and the new Treaty clause, saying rather than removing the existing clause “which would have been quite good in our view, I think, is to interpret what this means”.

“As I read it, it says ‘you are going to engage’.”

Te Pāti Māori co-leader Rawiri Waititi warned however it would have a chilling effect on those yet to reach a Treaty settlement, describing the bill as another part of the coalition’s “ram raid” on conservation.

“This demonstrates a blanket lack of good faith, and only adds to the iwi Māori suspicion of the Crown’s ability to act with honour,” he said.

“Amending settlement legislation cannot be taken lightly – how can this government believe it can amend any legislation regarding Te Tiriti o Waitangi when it continues to fail to uphold it?”

Potaka, however, was adamant the government remained committed to honouring settlements and good-faith negotiations.

“We want to be clear, the wording of section 4 is not being changed,” he said.

“This bill provides greater certainty about what it means, and of course members of the opposition know there is no veto – that’s what the Supreme Court said and that’s what this government says.”

The bill’s first reading came the same day the coalition announced it would override the Supreme Court, which had agreed a lawsuit challenging companies’ climate records under tort law could go ahead.

In a move the activist taking the case – iwi leader Mike Smith – called “an affront to democracy”, the government now planned to ban such cases.

After the bill’s passage, the next piece of legislation up for debate was the second reading of legislation that would abolish the Ministry for the Environment, so the government could merge the department into the new MCERT (Ministry of Cities, Environment, Regions and Transport) mega-ministry.

Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero, a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.

– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

Proposed changes to climate legislation are an attack on the rule of law, the Environmental Defence Society says.

The government announced on Tuesday it would amend climate law to prevent companies from being sued over damage caused by greenhouse gas emissions.

But Environmental Defence Society chief executive Gary Taylor told RNZ that the fact it was about climate law was incidental.

“It’s actually an attack on the rule of law,” he said.

In 2024, iwi leader and activist Mike Smith was granted permission by the Supreme Court to sue Fonterra and other major dairy and fossil fuel companies.

He argued the companies, which collectively contributed about a third of New Zealand’s emissions, had a legal duty to him and others in communities that are being damaged by the effects of greenhouse gas emissions.

The hearing, which was sent back to the High Court, was due to start in April next year.

Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith said the change would apply to current and future cases.

Taylor said there were two things wrong with the proposal.

“The first is that the government is proposing to limit New Zealanders’ rights to sue in civil proceedings, and the second is that it’s doing it when there’s an active case, Mr Smith’s case, before the courts that the Supreme Court has ruled should be heard.”

Taylor said Goldsmith should be ashamed of himself “for bringing a bill of this kind to Parliament”.

“I think his colleague, the Attorney General, should be investigating it for lack of consistency with the Bill of Rights Act.

“It’s pretty outrageous, and it raises issues that go far beyond climate change into the so-called comity between the different arms of government – the executive, the Parliament, and the courts – and here we’ve got a prime example of executive overreach, where they’re wanting to intervene in a judicial process and take someone’s legitimate rights away from them.”

Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero, a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.

– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

Follow Our Changing World on Apple, Spotify, iHeartRadio or wherever you listen to your podcasts

There are 235 adult kākāpō alive today – each of them has a name, a detailed family tree, a backstory, and a high-tech transmitter that logs their activity.

It’s fun and it makes it easier for people to engage with these charismatic parrots. To talk about You-Tube star Rakiura, and cliff-top nesting adrenaline-junkie mum Rimu and of course, the famously named Attenborough the kākāpō.

But that’s not the ultimate goal of the kākāpō recovery programme, says operations manager Deirdre Vercoe.

“Our vision is to restore the mauri of the kākāpō, or the life force of the kākāpō. And that vision is to have kākāpō nameless, wandering through our forests, booming from the mountains and the hilltops around our cities and towns. Not to have a transmitter on, not to have a name and a well known history.”

So this year, for the first time in the programme’s 31 year history, which began when there were just 51 birds alive, some of the new kākāpō chicks will not be named.

Normally naming happens when a chick has fledged and has passed the 150 day mark since they hatched. It’s then that they get added to the adult kākāpō tally.

Currently there are 92 new chicks alive. They may not all make it but there is hope that the population will reach over 300 birds by the end of this year.

The next question is where to put them.

Home birds or wanderers?

Dr Andrew Digby sits in front of a laptop in a side small room off the large hut on Whenua Hou / Codfish island. On the screen in front of him is a map of the island – populated with different coloured dots. Each represents an individual kākāpō, and it’s movements around it’s home range. And there are no gaps left.

When it comes to how much space a kākāpō needs the estimate ranges between about 15 and 50 hectares says Andrew. Plus different kākāpō will have different requirements depending on the context – a breeding female will need a different space than a juvenile, for example.

It’s this sort of detail that Andrew is hoping to learn about through an ongoing study in which GPS loggers have been added to some birds’ transmitters – to get precise location data from different kākāpō across the seasons.

Tracking kākāpō using their existing transmitters had given them some idea of their movements, but the GPS data is a whole new level of detail says Andrew.

And it is resulting in a few surprises.

The birds move around a lot more than they thought, and there seems to be an unexpected seasonal variation in the movements.

The same GPS loggers were added to male birds released into the fenced ecosanctuary Sanctuary Mountain Maungatautari in July 2023. Some of those birds surprised everyone with their wanderlust, with a few making it out over the fence and into the surrounding farmland and roads.

It was unexpected that they would travel so far, alarming to those caring for them, and it also pointed to one of the key questions Andrew would like answered.

“One thing we don’t know anything about, because we’ve always had kākāpō on islands, is what do they do when they get to big landscapes and how far can they move?…They could go massive distances. We just have no idea.”

As they move towards that future, that would present a monitoring challenge too, says Andrew. Currently the birds sport radio transmitters which log their activity and allow them to be tracked down. The breeding birds live on three islands with information networks and monitoring stations at every nest to keep real-time tabs on the mums’ movements.

As the population grows, and they expand into new habitat, it’s not feasible that the programme will be able to maintain this scale of monitoring. They will have to find another way to keep an eye on the birds, says Andrew, whether that could be eDNA monitoring, acoustic methods, or thermal drones.

The kākāpō challenges

The issue of where to put them is increasingly becoming an urgent challenge. Flightless, smelly and with a freezing threat-response, they are particularly vulnerable to predation by introduced mammals.

But, says Deirdre Vercoe, the programme has run out of “really high quality predator-free island sites”. Their likely next move will be to islands that have low densities of stoats or rats, while continuing investigations of fenced sites, mainland efforts like Predator Free South Westland, and always with an ever hopeful eye on Predator Free Rakiura efforts.

A dearth of good quality habitat is not the only challenge that kākāpō face. The fertility rate of the birds is only about 50%, and disease is a constant threat.

The team has learned that there are some management choices that can help with fertility, and Dr Andrew Digby hopes that ongoing investigations of the genome sequences of each kākāpō will tease out more answers too.

It’s the reason why, although the shift to kākāpō living truly wild has already begun, it will be a long transition says Deirdre Vercoe.

“If you think about that number, even if we do get to 300 this year, there’s still less kākāpō in the world than there are children at my daughter’s school. You know, it’s such a small number. So they are still vulnerable. We can’t walk away just yet. We do have quite a long path to go. But we have made some really good progress.”

Sign up to the Our Changing World monthly newsletter for episode backstories, science analysis and more.

– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

More than 4000 people queued online to secure spots on the Paparoa Great Walk on Tuesday.

It was the first of the Great Walks to open for bookings with the popular Milford Track opening on Wednesday.

The Department of Conservation upgraded its online booking system last year to include a virtual queue to help manage peak demand.

It followed a series of crashes and false starts that marred the booking process in 2023 and 2024.

DOC heritage and visitors director Cat Wilson said the booking system performed smoothly despite extremely high demand with booking queues.

“We saw around 4100 users in the online queue when bookings opened this morning at 9.30am,” she said.

“The booking platform coped beautifully under pressure, and booking queues had cleared by 10am.”

Most dates across January and March were quickly filled, but she said there was still availability outside the peak summer dates.

“We also encourage people to keep checking back, as plans change and cancellations do come up throughout the season,” Wilson said.

“We know booking day can be competitive and exciting for people planning their adventures. It’s fantastic to see so much enthusiasm for naturing and experiencing these iconic places.”

Bookings for the remaining Great Walks, huts and campsites were opening on staggered dates for the next two weeks.

Opening dates for Great Walk accommodation

For stays from 1 July 2026 – 30 June 2027. Bookings open 9:30am on listed dates.

• Tuesday, 12 May – Paparoa Track
• Wednesday, 13 May – Milford Track
• Thursday, 14 May – Abel Tasman Coast Track
• Friday, 15 May – Routeburn Track
• Tuesday, 19 May – Kepler Track
• Wednesday, 20 May – Heaphy Track, Whanganui Journey, Lake Waikaremoana Track
• Thursday, 21 May – Tongariro Northern Circuit, Rakiura Track

Note: Hump Ridge Track bookings are managed separately and can be booked up to two years in advance.

Opening dates for all other DOC accommodation

For stays from 1 July 2026 – 30 June 2027. Bookings open 9:30am or 12 noon.

• Tuesday, 12 May – Huts, lodges, and sole occupancy accommodation (excludes Tiritiri Matangi Bunkhouse*)
• Thursday, 14 May – North Island campsites
• Friday, 15 May – South Island campsites (excludes Tōtaranui Campsite)
• Friday, 22 May – Tōtaranui Campsite
• Tuesday, 16 June – Tiritiri Matangi Bunkhouse

Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero, a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.

– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

Date:  12 May 2026

The boys are from an Otago Boys High School’s geography class and are looking at how landscapes and plants change over time and at altitude.

“You can look at this in books, but when you see how dramatic the changes are, how the glaciers move, and the different plant species, the students are blown away. When we walk up to Red Tarns, you’re looking straight out at Aoraki which is stunning,” Lisa says.

As a new community ranger at Aoraki/Mount Cook, ex-teacher Lisa is now delivering a DOC EOTC (Education Outside the Classroom) programme, funded by the Ministry of Education, to students from all over New Zealand.

“Some of them have never seen snow before, let alone walked 1200 metres up a mountain. Nature is an amazing classroom. It’s a real hands-on experience observing, taking photos, and testing their classroom theories and knowledge. New Zealand is geographically very unique,” she says.

Otago Boys High School Head of Social Science Sam Bradbury-Leather says Aoraki/Mount Cook is a fabulous place for learning how different plants adapt and survive in alpine environments.

The Y12 Geography classes are studying ecological patterns, and the students gather data on percentages of plant species coverage at different zones and the basic principles of how things change with altitude.

“The DOC team did an awesome job of engaging our students on a huge range of geographical issues in the Aoraki National Park area. It is a stunning setting to use the outdoors as a classroom and students are now perfectly set up to complete the write up of their research reports,” Sam says.

Lisa Winterfeldt says it’s an opportunity to give the students an understanding of how our native species evolved over time and how vulnerable they are to introduced predators.

“I talk to them about how we all need to understand the state of nature here and take some ownership of the issues our native species face with introduced predators for example. I want to inspire them to get outside ‘naturing’ – this is a first experience for some of them, and I know they’re keen to do more.”

Background information

DOC is contracted by the Ministry of Education to support quality teaching and learning experiences for junior and secondary school students. We design and provide programmes covering a range of subject areas from years 1-13.

All learning opportunities are aligned with the New Zealand Curriculum statement and assessments statements to complement learning in the classroom.

Contact

MIL OSI

Date:  12 May 2026

DOC Westport Principal Ranger Biodiversity Sean Judd says a group of four people – including a woman and three men, one of who is wearing a distinctive cowboy hat – were captured on CCTV footage on 3 April at the Banbury Mine near Denniston.

The historic site is fenced off to ensure the protection of the mining heritage structures and artifacts and ensure public safety.

“They’ve gone well past a fence and into an area where they shouldn’t be,” Sean says.

The area is a category one Historic Place and popular tourist attraction for people naturing in the Buller district. It showcases the old mine site, including the well-known Denniston Incline.

Many of the weathered artifacts remain at site and hint at the living and working conditions from the 1880s, when coal was first sent down the Denniston Incline, to 1967, when the mine closed.

“Our primary interest is how these people came to be in an enclosed off-limits heritage area at about 4.30pm on that day,” says Sean.

The CCTV footage shows the group of four people walking around the site. In one still from the footage, the man in the cowboy hat appears to pause to take a selfie while the rest of the group look around.

“There’s no apparent damage, and nothing’s been taken,” Sean says. “But we certainly don’t condone these people entering the site and we’d like a chat about how and why they entered the area.”

Sean acknowledges people can be fascinated by heritage sites and want to take a closer look.

“With heritage comes risk – the Banbury Mine, like many old mining sites, has structures at various levels of decay which have been closed off to ensure visitors are safe and are not injured.

“As well as the decaying buildings and artifacts, there’s also a significant fall risk further in, where there is no barrier protecting visitors from a sheer drop.

“We do not manage this location as a visitor site – and those risks to people are part of that approach.

“This incident is a very important reminder that DOC makes decisions about closing sites when we consider the location is not safe for visitors – and we ask the public to respect those closures.”

Sean says the people in the security camera footage, or anyone who can identify them, should contact 0800 DOC HOT and quote case CLE-11613.

Most people enjoy and experience nature and our beautiful taonga by doing the right thing – and we really appreciate that. Follow the rules, and we’ll be happy – and you’ll have a great experience naturing.

Unfortunately, when a few people or organisations don’t follow the rules, it further threatens our special places and threatened species.

DOC can’t be everywhere. If you see behaviour you think may break conservation rules, we’d like to know. You can call 0800 DOC HOT to report what you’ve seen or heard.

Contact

MIL OSI

MIL OSI

MIL OSI

A Wellington man who severely injured his spine and is tetraplegic has climbed the equivalent of Mount Everest in a year.

Andrew Leslie walked to the top of Mount Kaukau 35 times in the past 12 months as part of his rehabilitation.

Six years ago, Leslie injured his spinal cord in a mountain bike accident. He spent five months in hospital and had to learn to navigate life as a tetraplegic.

“Now, when you hear that word, you probably think about someone being paralysed from the neck down in a wheelchair – and I was for a while. But with spinal cord injury, every injury is different and every outcome is different,” Leslie explained.

Leslie managed to walk out of Burwood Hospital, but moving his body remained an ongoing struggle.

He described movement as not coming to him automatically, as having to think about it before getting his body to do it.

“I have to make myself move. So I need to use my brain in a different way to be able to take a step. And walking is actually an extremely complicated thing.”

As a result, he has to keep woking on his recovery to understand and train his body. “I’ll never recover from this injury. Rehab for me is about how I optimise what I’ve got.”

To motivate himself through this difficult process, he sets himself yearly goals. The first year after his accident, he walked to the crash site. The year after, he ran 5km around Karori Park. One year, he managed a five-day course with Outward Bound.

His favourite goal was walking the Abel Tasman track with his friend and fellow tetraplegic, George Thompson. He described it as “just an incredible experience”.

The pair walked 60km over five days – a huge physical feat that required thorough planning and a crew. “But we did it,” Leslie beamed.

He said it was “extremely satisfying getting over that finish line — actually, incredibly emotional getting over that finish line”.

This year, he chose somewhere closer to home – Mount Kaukau in Khandallah, where he used to trail run before his accident.

“I really wanted to get back into the bush here and the thought of getting back up to the top of Mount Kaukau was just such a hugely motivating goal for me.”

He said this track was not particularly accessible for people with disabilities, and it probably never would be but did not necessarily need to be.

He said: “The things that I find difficult on this track, that able-bodied people wouldn’t find difficult, for example, is how some of the stairs sort of create little trip hazards, or if there’s been some erosion at the bottom of a step and it makes that first step really high. Those are some of the things which can literally trip me up, even just like little rocks that poke up out of the track, that sort of stuff.”

Wellington City Council said, “Mt Kaukau is particularly steep and a challenge for some users – the track itself is a difficult to maintain. When budget allows, we do try and improve it to make it more sustainable to reduce the costs over the long-term.”

It added that it is aware of the accessibility challenges and is working with an accessibility stakeholder group which includes Leslie to consider ongoing improvements for the Southern Walkway on Matairangi.

Raising awareness about accessibility in the outdoors is a large part of why Leslie told his story. He has been promoting guidance about accessibility measures which councils and the Department of Conservation could put in place and has headed Nuku Ora, a national kaupapa focused on helping people move.

“It’s hugely important for anyone to be able to connect with nature,” he explained.

He stressed that “accessibility means different things to different people” and wanted to move away from the single accessible standard track, which caters especially to wheelchair users. He said there were ways of making the outdoors more accessible without going for “full bells and whistles”.

For next year’s goal, he already had his heart set on another Great Walk: Lake Waikaremoana. He hoped that Thompson would join him again.

His rehabilitation has been supported by ACC, whose head of client recovery, Matthew Goodger, said: “We’re proud to see him continue to set and achieve his goals and pleased to have been able to support him in his recovery. We see first-hand the difference sport and recreation can make to people after a life-changing accident, and Andrew’s story is a great example of that impact.”

Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero, a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.

– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

Corrections has announced a new acting chief executive, weeks after saying one of its deputy chief executives would be filling the interim role.

The former chief executive Jeremy Lightfoot is moving to head the new Ministry for Cities, Environment, Regions and Transport.

Lightfoot said in an email to staff last month that deputy chief executive Alice Sciascia would be acting chief executive while the Public Service Commission “works through the next steps for the role”.

“Alice has acted for me on a number of occasions and has helped shape much of our strategic direction. I know she will provide strong and steady leadership.”

Do you know more? Email sam.sherwood@rnz.co.nz

On Friday, Lightfoot emailed staff to say that Rachel Leota had been appointed acting secretary and chief executive from 11 May to June 2027.

Leota previously worked at Corrections for 18 years, including five years as National Commissioner. She is currently working at the Department of Internal Affairs, and has also worked at Oranga Tamariki as deputy chief executive.

“Rachel has a strong track record of leading in large, complex organisations; improving service delivery and performance; and working effectively across legislative and regulated environments,” Lightfoot said.

“She brings extensive experience building trusted relationships with Ministers, iwi, unions, partners, and communities, and collaborating across the public service on system-wide priorities.”

A Public Service Commission spokesperson told RNZ Sciascia was initially announced to act as chief executive for a short period until the commission could put in place a longer-term arrangement.

A Corrections spokesperson confirmed that Sciascia had not worked in the interim role since Lightfoot announced he was leaving.

Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero, a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.

– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand