Monitoring plastic pollution in Northland, and the elusive bittern

Our Changing Word heads to Whangārei to speak to a Northland Regional Council scientist whose been using stormwater drains to estimate the scale of our plastic pollution problem. Plus, just outside Christchurch, one of New Zealand’s biggest lakes is home to the ‘canary in the coalmine’ of wetlands. The secretive and elusive Australasian bittern seems to be in trouble - how can we help? Sign up to the Our Changing World monthly newsletter for episode backstories, science analysis and more. Learn more: Join Alison Ballance on a kayak across a lake to listen to some booming bittern crooners . Listen to the nine to noon interview with John Sumich about the 2025 Matuku muster . The research into microplastics was part of the AIM2 project , which was reported on in 2021 as part of the OCW episode ‘Unwelcome visitors’ . Another source of microplastics is textile waste, but an international project is looking to a future where our clothes are fully biodegradable . Guests: Richard Griffiths, Northland Regional Council Peter Langlands, Bittern Conservation – New Zealand Harry Caley, Department of Conservation Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details

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Monitoring plastic pollution in Northland, and the elusive bittern is an episode from Our Changing World by RNZ.

This episode is 00:26:37 long.

This episode was published on Mar 30, 2026.

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