Freshwater fish are an important component of freshwater ecosystems, have intrinsic biodiversity values and are a valued resource for Māori, recreational and commercial fishers. The presence of fish species can be affected by changes in catchment land cover and land use, in-stream habitat, fish passages (routes for moving up and down waterways), pests,...

Total suspended particulates (TSP) consist of all solid particles and liquid droplets up to 100 micrometres (μm) in diameter (ie when compared with PM10 and PM2.5, TSP is the equivalent of PM100). TSP can be emitted from the combustion of fuels, such as wood and coal (eg from home heating and industry) and petrol and diesel (from vehicles). Natural...

Benzene is a volatile organic compound. Motor vehicle use and home heating are the main sources of airborne benzene emissions. Natural sources include volcanoes and forest fires. Benzene can affect the nervous system and is associated with some forms of cancer. Benzene is emitted by human-made (motor vehicles, burning wood or coal for home heating, and...

Ground-level (tropospheric) ozone (O3) exists at a natural background level but is also produced when nitrogen oxides (NOx) and volatile organic compounds from vehicle emissions, petrol fumes, industrial processes solvents, and other human-made sources react in the presence of sunlight. It is the primary component of photochemical smog. Ozone also occurs...

Note: Metadata relates to the mosaicked imagery. This layer has been provided to enable users to explore coverage and capture dates of the imagery. To enquire about ordering the imagery, please e-mail lucas[at]mfe.govt.nz. This imagery is a 10m, ten-band multispectral, cloud-minimised mosaic of Sentinel 2A and 2B satellite tiles over Chatham Islands made...

Along with sea lions, fur seals, and dolphins, seabirds are the protected species most directly affected by fisheries in New Zealand waters. Estimating seabird deaths from bycatch is one way of assessing the pressure some seabird species face from current fishing practices. This dataset relates to the "Bycatch of protected species: seabirds" measure on...

The Hector’s and Māui’s dolphins are subspecies of the small dolphin Cephalorhynchus hectori. They are endemic to New Zealand (not found anywhere else). The Hector’s dolphin is classified as nationally endangered, while the Māui’s dolphin is nationally critical. Reporting incidental dolphin deaths from fishing helps us understand the pressures our...

DATA SOURCE: National Institute for Water and Atmospheric Research (NIWA) [Technical report available at https://www.mfe.govt.nz/publications/environmental-reporting/ministry-environment-atmosphere-and-climate-report-2020-updated] Adapted by Ministry for the Environment and Statistics New Zealand to provide for environmental reporting transparency Dataset...

Nitrogen dioxide (NO2) is a gas that is harmful to human health (United States Environmental Protection Agency (US EPA), 2021), ecosystems, and plants (US EPA, 2008). It can be emitted directly into the air but is often formed as a secondary pollutant when nitric oxide (NO) emissions react with other chemicals. It also contributes to the formation of...

Nitrogen dioxide (NO2) is a gas. It can be emitted directly into the air but is most often formed when nitric oxide (NO) emissions react with other chemicals in the air. Nationally, road motor vehicles are the main human-made source of nitrogen oxides (NOx, the collective term for NO2 and NO). NO2 may cause respiratory infections and reduced lung...

"The rates of establishment (recruitment) of indigenous tree species vary across New Zealand. Changes in the state of the environment (such as from browsing pests, large-scale weather events, or climate change) may change the rates of recruitment of particular tree species. This in turn may alter forest processes. Repeated surveys of the distribution of...

New Zealand’s indigenous and exotic forests absorb carbon dioxide (CO2) from the atmosphere through photosynthesis and store the carbon as biomass and in the soil. On average, more than twice as much carbon per hectare is stored in New Zealand’s mature indigenous forests than in exotic forests planted for wood production. Regenerating indigenous forests...

Note: Metadata relates to the mosaicked imagery. This layer has been provided to enable users to explore coverage and capture dates of the imagery. To enquire about ordering the imagery, please e-mail lucas[at]mfe.govt.nz. This imagery is a 10m, ten-band multispectral, cloud-minimised mosaic of Sentinel 2A satellite tiles over Chatham Islands made from...

"The rates of establishment (recruitment) of indigenous tree species vary across New Zealand. Changes in the state of the environment (such as from browsing pests, large-scale weather events, or climate change) may change the rates of recruitment of particular tree species. This in turn may alter forest processes. Repeated surveys of the distribution of...

Our fish stocks are affected by commercial, customary, and recreational fishing, and environmental pressures (eg ocean temperature, acidity, and productivity). The Ministry for Primary Industries uses three performance measures to assess influences on fish stocks: a soft limit (below which a rebuilding plan is required), a hard limit (below which closing...

Particulate matter (PM) comprises solid and liquid particles in the air. PM10 particles have a diameter less than 10 micrometres. Coarse particles (2.5–10 micrometres) can be inhaled – they generally deposit in the upper airways; fine particles (smaller than 2.5 micrometres) can deposit deep in the lungs where air-gas exchange occurs. Since PM10 is small...

We used NIWA’s sea-surface temperature archive, which is derived from the Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR) satellite data it receives from the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. The archive provides high spatial (approximately 1km) and high temporal (approximately six-hourly in cloud-free locations) resolution estimates of...

"The rates of establishment (recruitment) of indigenous tree species vary across New Zealand. Changes in the state of the environment (such as from browsing pests, large-scale weather events, or climate change) may change the rates of recruitment of particular tree species. This in turn may alter forest processes. Repeated surveys of the distribution of...

New Zealand’s indigenous and exotic forests absorb and store carbon from the atmosphere through photosynthesis. As forests grow, the carbon stored in them increases. These carbon stocks help offset greenhouse gas emissions from sources such as agriculture, energy production, and transport. Column headings: type = vegetation type of forest vol_tC = volume...

Total suspended particulate matter (TSP) consists of solid and liquid airborne particles that are smaller than 100 micrometres in diameter. Although, by weight, it is dominated by the larger particles it does also include the PM10 and PM2.5 sub-fractions that are responsible for most health effects, such as respiratory and cardiovascular disease, and some...