New Zealand soils are in a critical state, requiring drastic interventions via transformative planning. Intensive land-use practices have led to soil degradation. I propose intervening through the establishment of soil conservancies and the appointment of kaitiaki oneone, or Māori soil guardians, in a bid to curb exploitation of this fundamental natural resource.

This study identifies the outcomes, threats and sources of breeding failure at 77 monitored Australian Fairy Tern (Sternula nereis nereis) colonies between 2017/18 and 2021/22. Predation, inundation and disturbance were the greatest threats observed at colonies. The development of effective predator control and flood mitigation strategies are critical for addressing the major sources of colony failure.

The region encompassing Oceania, New Guinea, and Eastern Wallacea houses ~300 species of skinks (almost a fifth of all skink species in the world) on <1% of the Earth’s total landmass. We provide the first regional assessment of this diverse fauna to understand their conservation needs, and the knowledge gaps that hinder their protection.

Conflicts can occur where ‘restoration’ attempts impact on competing conservation benefits. The tide-excluded banked coastal wetlands of northeastern Australia are targets for blue carbon ‘restoration’ but were found to support numerous migratory shorebirds and other threatened species. Provision of ecosystem services of biodiversity and conservation, plus food production, soundly justifies their retention.

Citizen scientists (CS) are an under-utilised resource that could lower the costs of scientific research. This study harnessed the resources of the local community group. Not only were they able to increase coverage and frequency of data during the COVID-19 lockdown, but they also created community awareness, capability, and engagement in scientific research.