Mike Joy talks about why he became involved in freshwater science and what led him to become a 'River Radical'. Learn about New Zealand's freshwater crisis in this video. Mike Joy from Bruce Foster on Vimeo.
We all need swimmable rivers
We are not the only ones that want clean rivers to swim in. While the National government tries to redefine what clean water means, the creatures deprived of it have to live with the consequences. Most of the things that make the water bad for us to swim in make it worse for fish to... Continue Reading →
Frying away our fish
It might still be a surprise to some that one of New Zealand's national delicacies is made up of threatened species. These threatened species' are known collectively as whitebait and are the juveniles of five different native freshwater fish species in the Galaxiidae family, mostly only found in New Zealand. They are: īnanga, kōaro, banded kōkopu,... Continue Reading →
The Ecological Realities of New Zealand Podcast
Mike Joy was recently interviewed on Sentient Seas - a website presenting interviews, podcasts, and essays on a range of topics aimed to inspire the change needed for a better future. The interview discusses some of the ecological situations New Zealand is faced with, the lack of environmental management by councils and the Government, farming options... Continue Reading →
Freshwater for Life supports call to prioritise freshwater quality
Freshwater for Life is announcing their support for the Choose Clean Water tour, which will see four young New Zealanders visit over 25 lakes and rivers around the country to document how the deterioration in water quality is affecting local people and aquatic life. The group will be collecting signatures for a petition calling for... Continue Reading →
Polluted Inheritance
A new book written by Dr Mike Joy on New Zealand's freshwater crisis has recently been published by BWB Texts. The book highlights the main threats to New Zealand's freshwater ecosystems, how the freshwater crisis came about and how this reality is routinely denied and concealed from the public. Polluted Inheritance is available in paperback... Continue Reading →
Freshwater statement highlights the demise of New Zealand’s freshwater biodiversity
The Society for Conservation Biology in Oceania has released a conservation statement titled: 'The Plight of New Zealand's Freshwater Biodiversity'. The report succinctly outlines the decline of species living in our fresh waters and the reasons for the decline. It reminds us that 74 per cent of our native freshwater fish species are threatened or... Continue Reading →
Environmental team wins dairy debate
A debate on water quality and dairying's perception at the 2015 New Zealand Dairy Business of the Year was won by the rebuttal team on the moot: "Is the dairy industry doing enough to improve water quality?" Despite some of the work farmers had done to try and improve water quality, freshwater quality in many New... Continue Reading →
New PCE reports on water quality released
Two new reports on water quality have just been released by the Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment. One of them is an update from a 2013 report: Water quality in New Zealand: Land use and nutrient pollution, which looked at the relationship between land use and two nutrient pollutants - nitrogen and phosphorus. A clear... Continue Reading →
White gold – dairy production in New Zealand
Here is a video from a presentation Mike Joy made at the Resource Management Law Association Conference in 2013 - "Black and White Gold - Does it all Glitter?". The 2013 RMLA conference was held in New Plymouth. The conference title symbolises the tensions within both the RMA itself, and Central Government’s Business Growth Agenda,... Continue Reading →
Freshwater for life 