Our unique environment…
New Zealand has an amazing variety of landscapes and a range of unusual species. We have a very high percentage of birds, reptiles and invertebrates that are found nowhere else in the world. Unusally, we also have no indigenous land mammals (apart from two species of bat) and birds fill the role that mammals take in other countries.
… under threat
Yet this amazing flora and fauna is under serious threat. Since humans arrived in Aotearoa New Zealand around 800 years ago 32% (or 58) species of land and freshwater birds have become extinct. A large number of other animals and plants are listed as threatened or vulnerable to extinction, and the situation is getting worse.
The main threats are caused by habitat loss and degradation driven by urban development and intensification of farming. Invasive animals and plants also threaten to out-compete or predate our native flora and fauna.
