Resources
Below are some handy links to inform your own research and reporting
Avifauna (birds)
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eBird is a citizen science based community where observations by anyone with an account are uploaded. It can be used to provide insight into what species may be expected on a site.
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New Zealand Birds Online (NZBO) is a useful tool for gaining species specific information.
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A few of the nests you may come across in your travels around New Zealand.
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Here's a handy page explaining some practical steps you can take if you come across a baby bird.
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This link provides some design options for helping you enhance your gardens nest appeal.
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If you're keen to build a nesting box, here's some design advice to get you started.
Chiroptera (bats)
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Some information on New Zealand's two remaining native species of mammal published by the Department of Conservation (DOC).
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The link below will take you to a comprehensive manual detailing the best practice conservation techniques for New Zealand bats.
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An estimation of the distribution ranges of our two species of bat, published by the Te Ara Encyclopedia of New Zealand.
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What to do if you cut down a tree and find an injured bat. Here's a resource published by the Department of Conservation (DOC) about what to do prior to getting it to a vet.
Herpetofauna (Lizards and Frogs)
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A document created by the Department of Conservation's lizard technical advisory group to help guide developers in taking the correct course of action.
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A document that advises developers and consenting authorities on their legal obligations and the steps they need to take when making decisions about land use on sites that may contain native lizard populations. It was prepared by the Department of Conservation (DOC) Lizard Technical Advisory Group.
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An index of all species of lizard and frog you might come across in New Zealand provided by the New Zealand Herpetological Society (NZHS).
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An atlas of New Zealand's herpetofauna provided by the Department of Conservation (DOC).
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A guide for helping you create a garden that provides for lizards needs in the hope they move in. Created by Forest and Bird.
Freshwater Fauna
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A page with some information about the variety of native fish we have in New Zealand. Published by the Department of Conservation (DOC).
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An overview of New Zealand's freshwater fauna by NIWA.
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A tool for helping you identify what species of fish you've found by NIWA.
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The Index of Biotic Integrity (Fish IBI) is a set of biological metrics used to assess the richness of fish species by comparing the species present at a site to the species that would be expected in the absence of human impacts.
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The recommended standards for the design and restoration of instream infrastructure to provide for fish passage.
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Implementation guidance on Essential Freshwater policies and regulations published by the Ministry For the Environment (MFE).
Streams and Wetlands
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LAWA currently presents information on river water quality, lake water quality, recreational water quality, groundwater quality, water quantity, air quality, land cover and estuary health.
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This document outlines the process for delineating wetlands as defined in the Resource Management Act (RMA) 1991, known as ‘RMA wetlands’.
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NIWA NZ River maps contain a variety of interchangeable datasets and an interactive projection of your selected datasets.
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How to create a wetland by Forest and Bird is a simple guide to building wetlands on your property.
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An information page about wetlands and their benefits published by Forest and Bird.
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A document describing the primary classes we classify stream types as and how you might go about distinguishing the difference between them.
Plants
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A fantastic site for searching about New Zealand's flora and retrieving a range of interesting information published by the New Zealand Plant Conservation Network (NZPCN).
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A community of plant and animal enthusiasts where you can post observations of species and have experts identify them for you.
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A guide to classifying New Zealand terrestrial ecosystems by Nicholas J.D. Singers and Geoffrey M. Rogers.
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A classification of New Zealand's threatened environments, mapped over the entire country. A very useful tool to include in a sites values assessment or assessment of potential for enhancement.
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A very comprehensive guide to native planting in the Otago Region, produced by the Otago Regional Council.
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New Zealand is broken into ecological regions which is often referred to in the background section of environmental reports. Here is a very old (but still relevant) map of NZ's ecological regions.
Pests
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A guidance document by Forest and Bird on how to control pest plants.
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An information page on responsible pet ownership published by Forest and Bird.
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An index of New Zealand's pest animals, providing detail behind the threats they pose, the impacts they're having and the history behind why they're here.
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Another resource of information on New Zealand's mammalian pests. This on by the New Zealand Plant Conservation Network (NZPCN).
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Yet another index on pest species. This one by the citizen science community iNaturalist - allowing you to visualise the observed distributions of pests in NZ. (hint, most of them are everywhere).