People Helping Nature Podcast
Episodes
How Do You Mobilise A Nation For Nature? (With Vicki Connor, Department of Conservation)
15 Apr 2026
Contributed by Lukas
How do you mobilise a nation for nature?Most New Zealanders say nature matters to them. But care alone isn’t creating the level of action needed to ...
Eliminating Possums From Banks Peninsula: A Blueprint For NZ (with Ollie Rutland-Sims, Pest Free Banks Peninsula)
06 Apr 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Australian brush-tail possums are one of the most widespread and damaging introduced pests in Aotearoa New Zealand, with an estimated ~30 million arou...
Australasian Bittern: An Apex Predator At The Brink Of Extinction
19 Mar 2026
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode, we sit down with Helen Jamieson from The Forest Bridge Trust to explore one of Aotearoa New Zealand’s most elusive and lesser-known...
Announcement: We're Cycling 2800+ km for Conservation!
06 Mar 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Today, we have a big announcement to share.This year, between June and August, we’re setting off on an 11-week conservation storytelling adventure -...
Why Kids Might Be The Ocean’s Best Hope (EP37 with Steve Hathaway, Young Ocean Explorers)
19 Feb 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Most of our relationship with the ocean happens on the surface. We sail it, fish it, surf it and photograph it. But beneath that glistening blue is a ...
Less Than 1% Protected: The Truth About NZ’s Oceans (EP36 with Shaun Lee)
06 Feb 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Beneath the surface, Aotearoa New Zealand’s oceans are under growing pressure. We’re taking too much good stuff out, putting too much bad stuff in...
Shorebird Conservation: Connecting Habitats, Countries & People (EP35 with Keith Woodley)
24 Jan 2026
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode, we sit down with Keith Woodley (MNZM) from Pūkorokoro Miranda Shorebird Centre, to unpack the incredible lifestyles of shorebirds, t...
Inside Wellington Zoo: How Modern Zoos Actually Work (EP34 with Karen Fifield)
12 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Zoos haven’t always looked like they do today. “Good zoos” transformed from being places of entertainment to now playing a crucial role in conse...
Protecting Alpine Wētā & Lizards (EP33 with Samuel Purdie, Southern Lakes Sanctuary)
28 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
The smaller critters often get the least attention - yet they make up the foundations of life in our ecosystems.In Aotearoa New Zealand, invertebrates...
Scaling Up Conservation in the Southern Lakes (EP32 with Paul Kavanagh, Southern Lakes Sanctuary)
14 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
The Queenstown Lakes District is one of the most spectacular places on Earth - a picturesque landscape of mountains, lakes, and remote valleys where n...
NZ Bat Conservation: Data, Collaboration & Tech (EP31 with Mark Roper, The Bat Co. Lab)
31 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Most New Zealanders have never seen a bat, yet their presence signals the health of our forests.They’re our only native land mammals, quietly pollin...
Finding A Career With Purpose (EP30 with Michelle Impey, Save the Kiwi)
16 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
For many careers, purpose doesn’t extend much beyond cashing in the payslip.For Michelle Impey, she’s lived a career of purpose for 20+ years.As C...
From Degraded to Thriving: A Catchment Story (EP29 with John Burke)
03 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
What happens when one of the Bay of Plenty’s most degraded catchments becomes a restoration success story?In the 90s, the Te Mania Catchment was a m...
The Rise of Catchment Groups in Aotearoa NZ (EP28 with Sam the Trap Man)
17 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Nature doesn’t stop at the fence-line, so why should conservation?Throughout Aotearoa, catchment groups are changing the conservation narrative. Far...
Bringing Conservation Into the Classroom (with Sally Clegg, Trees for Survival)
04 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
When a child says, “Mum, I did something to save the planet,” something shifts - not just in the home, but throughout the local community.In this ...
People Are The Silver Bullet To Predator Free (with Dan Henry)
20 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
“People are the absolute silver bullet to this whole predator-free thing.”Dan Henry didn’t set out to lead a movement. But when he and a friend ...
Kiwi and Pine: The Role of Forestry (with Craig Balsom)
05 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Commercial pine forests and kiwi conservation: contradiction or opportunity?“We know kiwi are happy to live in commercial forests. And we know that ...
Kea Fieldwork: What it Takes to Save Mountain Parrots (part 2 with Lydia McLean)
23 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
“I hold hope for the future of kea in that they are smart and adaptable birds, but we really need to act to help them on their way.”And it takes a...
Kea Conservation: Saving Endangered Mountain Parrots (part 1 with Tamsin Orr-Walker)
06 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
New Zealand's most intelligent native bird is at risk of fading away, despite being highly visible around tourist hotspots.Kea, the world's only alpin...
Small but Mighty: Little Penguins and The People Saving Them (with NZPI)
23 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
“If you want to know how many kororā live in New Zealand, go find them.”The world’s smallest penguin species could be vanishing right before ou...
Saving Raukūmara: Iwi-Led Action at Massive Scale (with Ora Barlow)
09 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
“The Raukūmara was never prioritised. It was forgotten."For generations, local iwi Ngati Porou and Te Whanau-a-Apanui watched their ancestral fores...
Small Business: Conservation’s Missing Catalyst? (with Carlos Chambers)
24 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
What if businesses could become a driving force behind positive environmental action, complementing and accelerating conservation efforts worldwide?De...
Native Planting 101: Tips to Avoid Costly Mistakes (with Wayne O’Keefe)
11 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
What does it take to transform a planting project into a thriving, self-sustaining NZ native forest?In short, it's a long-term commitment that goes fa...
NZ’s Feral Cat Dilemma: An Honest Conversation (with John Bissell)
28 Mar 2025
Contributed by Lukas
It’s been estimated that more than 2.5 million feral cats call Aotearoa NZ home.2.5 million!That's big numbers, making them a growing problem and an...
First Responders of the Coast: Mobilising Communities to Save Stranded Whales (with Daren Grover)
14 Mar 2025
Contributed by Lukas
What happens when a whale or dolphin strands on a New Zealand beach? For over 50 years, Project Jonah has been the lifeline for these marine mammals i...
When Predators Thrive, Ecosystems Survive: Saving NZ's Birds of Prey (with Ineke Milner)
27 Feb 2025
Contributed by Lukas
What New Zealand predator flies at up to 200km/hour yet is now rarer than our iconic kiwi? With fewer than 8,000 kārearea (NZ’s endemic falcon) rem...
Tīwaiwaka: A Movement to Heal Our Relationship with Nature (with Rob McGowan/Pā Ropata)
14 Feb 2025
Contributed by Lukas
What if we viewed Earth not as a resource to be managed, but as our home to be cherished?In this profound conversation, Rob McGowan (Pā Ropata), lead...
Think Like a Predator: The Art of Effective Trapping (with John Bissell)
28 Jan 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Can poor-quality predator control be worse than no control at all? According to one of New Zealand's leading trapping experts, the answer might surpri...
Dogs and Kiwi: Creating Space for Both to Thrive (with Emma Craig)
12 Dec 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Dogs navigate the world through scent, and kiwi have an irresistibly strong smell. Add to this a kiwi's lack of a breastbone, and even the gentlest nu...
Crowdfunding Reforestation: Uniting a Community to Buy Land (with Matthew MacDonald)
29 Nov 2024
Contributed by Lukas
What if a small community on New Zealand's Banks Peninsula could come together to purchase and restore a piece of land to create a lasting conservatio...
From Backyard to Big Picture: Making Predator Free NZ a Reality (With Jessi Morgan)
13 Nov 2024
Contributed by Lukas
In neighbourhoods around New Zealand, predator control is becoming as normal as recycling or composting.Jessi Morgan, CEO of Predator Free New Zealand...
10th Episode Anniversary! (With Anna Wentsch & Callum Armstrong)
30 Oct 2024
Contributed by Lukas
The last few months of building the People Helping Nature podcast have been a wild ride, to say the least!We’ve been blessed with opportunities to i...
From Endangered to Everywhere: Reimagining Kiwi Conservation (With Michelle Impey)
16 Oct 2024
Contributed by Lukas
What if every New Zealander could encounter a kiwi in the wild?Michelle Impey, CEO of Save the Kiwi, shares how this innovative organisation is workin...
Conservation's Secret Weapon: The Power of Community Collaboration (With Michelle Elborn)
05 Oct 2024
Contributed by Lukas
What if we could amplify the impact of community conservation efforts across an entire region?Michelle Elborn, CEO of Bay Conservation Alliance (BCA),...
Could Fenced Megasanctuaries End Extinction In NZ’s Forests? (With Jim Lynch)
20 Sep 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Imagine a future where the threat of extinction for New Zealand's forest species is eliminated... forever.Now imagine achieving this for less than 30 ...
Landowners Uniting To Bring Kiwi Back To Their Communities (With Matu Booth)
04 Sep 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Landscape-scale conservation projects are a key part of Aotearoa New Zealand’s biodiversity future.They connect the many localised community efforts...
Hunter-Led Conservation Saving Species From Local Extinction (with Sam The Trap Man)
22 Aug 2024
Contributed by Lukas
People usually think of hunting & gathering as something completely separate from conservation.But when the forest is your food basket, you see pl...
Forest Guardians And The Battle For Kōkako (with Carmel Richardson & Graeme Young)
06 Aug 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Imagine seeing an extremely rare bird (kōkako) go from declining without any support to having an entire community of volunteers, farmers, iwi, fores...
Conservation Through The Lens of Wildlife Pathology (with Annie Pagé)
06 Aug 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Why do we post-mortem and study wildlife after it dies?How does pathology influence our understanding of biodiversity trends at a species level?And wh...
What Does a Healthy Ecosystem Look Like in New Zealand? (with Wayne O'Keefe)
06 Aug 2024
Contributed by Lukas
What does a healthy ecosystem actually look like in Aotearoa New Zealand?And what role does the endangered kōkako bird (Callaeas wilsoni) play in the...
Introduction To The People Helping Nature Podcast (with Anna & Callum)
06 Aug 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Welcome to the People Helping Nature Podcast!In this inaugural introduction episode, hosts and co-founders of Conservation Amplified, Anna Wentsch and...