Rebecca Fox

Solicitors' practice needs to improve to ensure landowners are not left without legal access to water takes on their properties, the Otago Regional Council says.

A resource consent application to finish Bluff oysters in Otago Harbour has been rejected by the Otago Regional Council.

With its future hanging in the balance, the Otago Conservation Board has cancelled its next meeting.

It appears a little freedom might have been all it took for the kaka known as Mr Roto and his partner ''Mrs Roto'' to reignite the fires and breed.

Individuals need to take action and use their citizenship rights to put pressure on the Government to act on climate change, Victoria University School of Government professor Jonathan Boston says.

Fishermen who fall foul of the law are becoming more convincing liars, giving false names and details to rangers, Otago Fish and Game says.

Otago Fish and Game is ''fundamentally opposed'' to attempts to weaken the protection by which Water Conservation Orders are provided on New Zealand waters.

Cow manure has been found to be the cause of ''alarming'' high levels of bacteria in the Taieri River near Waipiata this summer.

Packing up polystyrene models of penguins is just one of the challenges the Yellow-eyed Penguin Trust is facing before its move to Conservation House.

Duck shooters need not be concerned. This duck-shooting season is not going to be shortened and the lead shot exemption remains in Otago, Otago Fish and Game says.