Matiu/Somes Island a resort for ‘lounge lizards’

Friday, 4 May 2007, 4:29 pm | Department of Conservation

Reptiles being rescued from the perils of city life to enjoy the tranquillity of Matiu/Somes Island are to be outfitted in the style of lounge lizards sporting “ipods”. More >>

New footbridge being built across the Waiohine

Tuesday, 17 April 2007, 2:46 pm | Department of Conservation

Vehicle access to the eastern Tararua Forest Park from the Walls Whare roadend in the Wairarapa will be closed for about nine weeks from 30 April 2007 to allow for the construction of a new bridge across the Waiohine Gorge. More >>

Wellington Visitor Centre moves down town

Wednesday, 4 April 2007, 2:12 pm | Department of Conservation

The Department of Conservation’s Wellington Visitor Centre is attracting a 10-fold increase in visitors after relocating from old Government Buildings to the shop frontage of the recently-opened Conservation House in the Manners Street. More >>

Colonial Knob Walkway closed while slip cleared

Wednesday, 21 March 2007, 12:56 am | Department of Conservation

Part of the Colonial Knob Walkway at Porirua has been closed to enable the clearance of a slip which came down on the track during heavy rain last November. More >>

Section of Colonial Knob Walkway being upgraded

Wednesday, 21 March 2007, 12:56 am | Department of Conservation

A steep section of Porirua’s popular Colonial Knob Walkway is undergoing a facelift to enhance visitor safety and enjoyment More >>

Access restricted to Mana and Matiu/Somes Islands

Tuesday, 6 March 2007, 4:28 pm | Department of Conservation

Heightened fire risk resulting from dry, warm and windy weather has prompted half day closures of Mana and Matiu/Somes Islands in the Wellington region. More >>

Are sea creatures coping with the sun?

Are our rocky shore sea creatures getting sunburnt or are they producing natural sunscreens to protect themselves from the harmful effects of the sun? More >>

New Eco-Friendly DOC Building Opens Today

Tuesday, 27 February 2007, 11:51 am | Department of Conservation

The Department of Conservation's new head office building sets a new standard for sustainability in the public service and New Zealand as a whole. The building – located in a former Wellington movie theatre – is the first fully refurbished equivalent ... More >>

Pacific World Heritage Workshop

Thursday, 15 February 2007, 9:34 am | Department of Conservation

Identifying and protecting World Heritage sites in the Pacific is the focus of a workshop being held at Tokaanu, near Turangi from 18 – 23 February. More >>

Kapiti bats breed, but pups stillborn

Monday, 29 January 2007, 12:07 am | Department of Conservation

Rare short-tailed bats transferred to Kapiti Island in a bid to save a threatened Tararua Forest Park colony have bred, but sadly the two pups produced were stillborn. More >>

Success for Fairy Tern at Kaipara Harbour

Wednesday, 10 January 2007, 4:08 pm | Department of Conservation

One of New Zealand's rarest birds, the New Zealand fairy tern, has been boosted by a chick successfully fledging at Papakanui Spit on the Kaipara Harbour, for the first time in five years. More >>

Protected speargrass weevil population to swell

Friday, 22 December 2006, 11:31 am | Department of Conservation

A rescue mission for threatened speargrass weevils from Wellington’s south coast has paid off with a population now established on Mana Island. More >>

Oprah-endorsed diet aid creates headache for DoC

Monday, 18 December 2006, 11:01 am | Department of Conservation

A plant touted by Oprah as a dieting aid is creating a headache for the Department of Conservation (DoC). More >>

DOC warns of 1080 risk to dogs

Friday, 15 December 2006, 9:54 am | Department of Conservation

Dogs should be kept out of the Otaki Catchment in the western Tararua Forest Park for the next six months to avoid the risk of 1080 poisoning. More >>

Two Maui's dolphins found dead at Kariotahi Beach

Monday, 4 December 2006, 3:03 pm | Department of Conservation

Two female Maui's dolphins, an adult and a juvenile, were found dead on Kariotahi Beach south of Auckland yesterday evening. More >>

Kapiti bats return to captivity

Thursday, 30 November 2006, 3:23 pm | Department of Conservation

An attempt to establish rare short-tailed bats on Kapiti Island has had a set-back following an outbreak of a mysterious ear infection. The Department of Conservation started the ground-breaking translocation in early 2005, developing techniques to ... More >>

NZ working to protect endangered albatrosses

Friday, 17 November 2006, 4:28 pm | Department of Conservation

Members of an international treaty to protect southern hemisphere albatrosses and petrels have launched a three-year work plan to secure the seabirds’ future, at a meeting in Christchurch this week. More >>

Two Dead Baby Dolphins in One Week

Friday, 17 November 2006, 1:57 pm | Department of Conservation

Two baby dolphins have been found washed up dead in the space of a week, including one critically endangered Maui's dolphin. With only around a hundred North Island Hector's or Maui's dolphins left in the world, any deaths are of great concern, said ... More >>

DOC Rejects ‘Neighbour from Hell’ Claim

Wednesday, 15 November 2006, 11:10 am | Department of Conservation

Department of Conservation Waikato Conservator, Greg Martin of Hamilton, says a claim by Coromandel farmer Arthur Attfield that DOC adopted a ‘neighbour from hell’ approach to recent aerial 1080 pest control operations on the Coromandel Peninsula ... More >>

Slip restricts access to the top of Colonial Knob

Monday, 6 November 2006, 12:33 am | Department of Conservation

One of the access tracks to the top of Colonial Knob in Porirua has become blocked by a slip following recent heavy rain. The Colonial Knob Walkway has been closed between the Porirua Scenic Reserve junction/Farm Track junction down to where the ... More >>