Defending Nature
Greenpeace Aotearoa has been defending nature since the 1970s. Through people-powered campaigns and science-backed advocacy, we’re standing up for nature.
Will you join us?
Nature is under attack
New Zealand’s Coalition Government is the most anti-environment in living memory, engaged in a war on nature. Faced with the evidence and impacts of the climate crisis, they are choosing to make it worse – and the scale of the attack on the environment is unprecedented.
The New Zealand government and big corporations plan to sacrifice our environment for short-term profit.
Our wild and precious ecosystems are under threat from their anti-environment initiatives. Threats like rampant dairy pollution, destructive industrial fishing, fast-tracked seabed mining and large-scale irrigation.
And we’re facing the undemocratic rolling back of existing environmental protections.
Māui dolphins, toroa, kiwi, and all the other amazing life around Aotearoa can’t fight back. That’s why we must be their voice.
Together, we can defend them.
With people-powered campaigns, bold direct action, legal challenges, and science-backed advocacy, Greenpeace Aotearoa is protecting wildlife and defending nature.
Greenpeace is taking action to defend nature
We do the research where others can’t go
We took cameras down to the deep ocean floor to document the destruction of deep sea coral by bottom trawling fishing companies, and our team in Indonesia documented the destruction of orangutan habitat for the palm industry.
We gather data to advocate for our communities’ health
We test rural drinking water for nitrates, and have gathered the largest dataset in the country, available for all to access in our “Know Your Nitrates” map. We have provided hundreds of free tests to rural New Zealanders on the front line of the dairy industry’s pollution of freshwater, which is terrible for rivers and fish but also human health.
We do investigations
We went undercover to expose human trafficking in the global tuna fishery, fishing which is also causing untold destruction to turtles and the ocean.
We tell the public the truth
We revealed the role of agribusiness lobby groups in setting the Government’s freshwater policy, we exposed the fishing industry killing dolphins. We are routinely in the media exposing the attacks on nature.
We take the bad guys to court
We won in the Supreme Court against wannabe seabed miners, to protect unique marine life like pygmy blue whales and critically endangered Māui dolphins. And we’ve got Fonterra in court for greenwashing ‘grass fed’ dairy cows, which are really fed on palm kernel.
We lobby against damaging laws
We mobilise public submissions to Parliament, we talk to Ministers, MPs, and senior government officials to counter industry spin on issues like the Wildlife ‘kiwi killing’ Act, the neoliberal Regulatory Standards Bill and the Treaty Principles Bill which threaten nature.
We take direct action
We disrupted the offshore oil exploration industry by swimming in front of their ships and blockading their conferences until one by one they left, and we will make sure they don’t restart as they are a risk to the climate and to the oceans.
We mobilise people power
We organised a 20,000 strong March for Nature in Auckland against the fast track law with our allies, giving a shot across the bow to corporations planning to use it to attack nature.
We work globally to defend nature
We support frontline communities in the Pacific facing seabed miners and climate change, and have teams at international climate conferences, the International Seabed Authority, the Global Plastics Treaty negotiation and more. We counter industry voices who want to destroy nature for profit.
…and much much much more
But we can’t do it alone.
Will you join us?
Will you be a nature defender?
When greedy corporations come for Aotearoa’s forests, oceans and rivers, Greenpeace fights back. Take action now.
Donate today
Your donation will make possible:
- Investigations and exposés that hold polluters accountable
- Legal action to protect wildlife and the places they call home
- Support for communities to protect their rivers and coastlines
- Bold, peaceful protest that governments can’t ignore
Greenpeace is independent. We don’t take donations from corporations or governments. That means we can’t do any of it without you.
Every gift makes a difference. Every dollar powers resistance.
Be a voice for nature
Māui dolphins can’t speak for themselves. Neither can kiwi or seabirds. But you can.
-
Open Letter to Stop the Fast Track
Sign on to this open letter to industry now to help push more of them to opt out of the Fast Track.
-
PETITION: Ban seabed mining in Aotearoa
Seabed mining is a new threat to the oceans. Now is our chance to prevent the destruction before it’s too late.
-
Tell Prime Minister Christopher Luxon to stop the rollback of freshwater protection
Every New Zealander should be able to swim in clean rivers and know that the water coming out of their kitchen tap is safe to drink.
Volunteer to defend nature
Across Aotearoa, passionate people like you are standing up for nature.
Whatever your role, your actions as a Greenpeace volunteer will give Earth a voice.
Defend nature in style
Defend nature in style with Greenpeace-branded tees and totes, ethically made and Fair Trade guaranteed with eco-friendly dyes and inks.
Greenpeace is 100% independent – we don’t take any money from governments or corporations. When you order from the Greenpeace Aotearoa shop, all profits go towards our campaign to defend nature.
Greenpeace victories for nature
Greenpeace Aotearoa has been defending nature since the 1970s, when the first Greenpeace boat left New Zealand to sail into the nuclear bomb test zone in Mururoa.
- The campaign to end French Government nuclear tests took until 1996 to be successful, and our flagship was bombed and a crewmember killed, but we won.
- We fought to end most whaling and whale numbers have recovered.
- We led the global campaign to have Antarctica declared an international park, safe from mining and militarisation.
- We stopped the construction of a new coal fired power station and diverted the electricity industry towards more geothermal.
- We put an end to offshore oil and gas exploration, which has forced the energy transition question.
- We won a raft of protections to freshwater from dairy pollution, but more is needed.
- Likewise we won some restrictions put on bottom trawlers targeting seamounts but the whole thing needs to come to an end.
- We won a cap on synthetic nitrogen fertiliser, one of the key drivers of the expansion of industrial dairying which is New Zealand’s biggest water and climate polluter.
