Why biodiversity matters

Our biodiversity is unique to Aotearoa and irreplaceable.  Our biodiversity includes the whole variety of native:

• plants
• animals
• microorganisms
• the genes they contain
• the ecosystems they create

New Zealand has a high proportion of native species that are found nowhere else in the world. 

Our native species and ecosystems are particularly vulnerable to:

• introduced species and diseases
• human activities
• changes to their habitat from:
  • climate change
  • landscape changes
  • pollution.

We know of 79 species that have gone extinct in Aotearoa since humans arrived. This is due to habitat changes, harvesting pressure, and/or introduced predators.

Despite some successes in species management, we continue to lose biodiversity. 
Many ecosystems and species remain at risk. Over three-quarters of our reptiles, birds, bats, freshwater fish and frog species are threatened or at risk of becoming threatened with extinction. 

People connect with biodiversity in many ways, whether it’s enjoying and recognising familiar flowering plants like kōwhai in their neighbourhood, or the encounters with native species such as kererū, pingao, pūriri moths, titiwai (glow worms) that they may come across when camping, tramping, fishing, gathering or hunting.

Māori perspective

Our biodiversity is fundamental to Māori culture.  Nature and people are entwined through:

• whakapapa (genealogy)
• te reo Māori (the Māori language)
• tikanga (custom)
• toi (the arts)
• kai (food)
• rongoā (medicines)
• taha wairua (spirituality). 

This relationship is reciprocal: the people are kaitiaki (guardians) of the natural world, and the natural world is kaitiaki of the people. 

National identity

Our biodiversity contributes to Aotearoa’s national identity through taonga such as kiwi and the silver fern. 

Our biodiversity provides us with ‘ecosystem services’, goods and services like water filtration, clean air, and food.

A loss of biodiversity can weaken an ecosystem and its ability to recover from stress and change, which can result in collapse. The loss of species and ecosystems, and the services they provide, threatens health and food security, the economy, and individual livelihoods.