By ROSE STIRLING

Snapper may be off the fish n'chips menu at local takeaway shops if Crest Energy's plan to build a tidal power station in the Kaipara Harbour goes ahead, according to Maori MP Hone Harawira.

By JEFF NEEMS

The Government's continued push to free up parts of the Conservation Department estate for mining operations has been described as "the great betrayal" by Coromandel environmentalists.

The deaths of two dogs in Mosgiel is being blamed on toxic algae.

By KIRAN CHUG

Revelations that more conservation land will be mined, whatever the outcome of public consultation, have drawn vehement opposition.

By MAGGIE TAIT

The Government is looking at removing protection for some areas of conservation land so they can be mined, Prime Minister John Key said today.

Two Sea Shepherd activist ships are in pursuit of the Japanese whaling fleet in the Southern Ocean, exchanging water cannon fire with the whalers.

By GILES BROWN

Residents of a tiny West Coast town believe irresponsible hunters may be behind nearby scrub fires which endangered the world's rarest kiwi.

All kiwi have been accounted for following five fires lit near a West Coast sanctuary during the weekend.

Something is holding down the herring population of Alaska's Prince William Sound and marine scientists are tailing some rather large suspects - humpback whales.

It was tough being a bloke in the days when moa roamed New Zealand.

A prominent British politician today said he deeply regretted that a man had died when the French sank the Greenpeace flagship Rainbow Warrior in Auckland harbour in 1985.

By KIRAN CHUG

A man and his dog track one of the world's rarest birds.

By JEFF NEEMS

The death of dozens of little blue penguins which washed up on Waikato's west coast beaches last month has been attributed to starvation.

By MARTIN VAN BEYNEN

A piece of Canterbury high country connected with Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings trilogy and author Samuel Butler has been sold to Canadians with controversial forestry plans.

By MATT CALMAN

The beach at Wellington's Owhiro Bay has been closed for the second time this summer as council staff search for the source of a raw sewage leak.

A popular Wellington beach has been closed after possible sewage contamination.

By ROSE STIRLING

Northland's drought is having devastating effects for the local Kiwi population.

A rat has been found on "pest-free" Motuora Island and the Department of Conservation fears it may not have arrived alone.

By MARC GREENHILL

The South Island's electricity supply could be compromised by moves to divide the Waitaki River hydro scheme between two operators, Meridian Energy has said. Energy Minister Gerry Brownlee, however, has played down the suggestion.

Fifty-five countries, accounting for almost 80 percent of world greenhouse gas emissions, have pledged goals for fighting climate change under a deadline in the Copenhagen Accord.