Central Auckland backyards are about to get greener, thanks to the recently launched Growing Together project.  Initiated by the Urban Pantry, an online-based gardening community, the project aims to unite city dwellers to convert under-utilised backyards and produce edible gardens. Managing director Emily Harris says Growing Together connects people who are passionate about growing food [...]

Fair Trade Fortnight started with a bang today, with Auckland announcing its official status as a fair trade city. A breakfast was held at the Britomart Country Club to celebrate the announcement, and begin Fair Trade’s annual two-week event. Sam Drumm, the organiser of Make Auckland Fair Trade, said he had tried to consider both [...]

An Auckland high school is planning to use worm farms as part of a project to reduce its waste by 50 per cent before the end of the year. Western Springs College has received a $55,000 grant from the Government’s waste minimisation fund to set up six waste stations on school grounds, each with recycling [...]

A conservation message more than 50 years old will be brought to life through the magic of Dr Seuss at Auckland Zoo these school holidays. To coincide with the movie premiere of Dr Seuss’ The Lorax, a story about deforestation, Auckland Zoo is offering children the chance to walk the Truffula Trail. Kids will learn [...]

A funeral march for the world’s rarest dolphin, the Maui’s dolphin, is taking place in Kumeu today. The march, a last-ditch effort to save the critically endangered mammals, will begin at Kumeu Arts Centre at 10.30am and finish at Prime Minister John Key’s electorate office on Main Rd in Kumeu. At the end of the [...]

Virtually extinct from the mainland for more than 150 years, saddleback (tieke) are being released into Tawharanui Regional Park, north of Auckland, without a hitch. The introduction of exotic mammals saw the virtual extinction of the vulnerable bird species in the mid-1800s. A single population remained on Hen Island in the Hen and Chickens. After [...]

Hikers in the Waitakeres can expect track closures in July, to limit the spread of kauri dieback disease. The closure of 27km of the Waitakeres’ 260km of tracks is to be approved imminently, says principal biosecurity advisor for the Auckland Council, Nick Waipara. The goal is to create disease-free sanctuaries and cut off areas infected [...]

Auckland is on the verge of becoming a Fair Trade city with Auckland Council in the final stages of confirming its support for the idea. An organisation called Make Auckland Fair Trade has been working towards the cause since 2010, after Wellington and Dunedin became New Zealand’s first fair trade cities. A fair trade city [...]

Two award-winning Auckland documentary makers are calling on the public to help to fund a film about the contentious oil and gas extraction method known as fracking. Sumner and Thomas Burstyn are using the crowd-funding website Pledgeme to fund a film exploring all sides of a controversial oil-extraction story set to play out in Whatatutu, [...]