For more than two decades, Pardington has been photographing taonga (Māori cultural treasures) and natural history specimens in museums around the world. In the South Canterbury museum, she was struck by a collection of stuffed native birds which had been subject to taxidermy – many of them now extinct or endangered. They inspired a new human-scale portrait series of these manu (birds), revered within Māori culture as intermediaries between human and divine worlds. The resulting works will be exhibited at the 2026 Venice Biennale.
Pardington invites viewers to reconsider how they think of birds, and how we might better protect them
Fiona Pardington: Taharaki Skyside will be exhibited at the Aotearoa New Zealand pavilion at the Venice Biennale from 9 May – 22 November 2026
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Breaking Waves: Ocean News
05/03/2026 - 10:00
05/03/2026 - 05:50
Councillors in Leicestershire support move in efforts to reduce flooding as Reform faces divisions on nature policy
A Reform UK council has backed the release of wild beavers into the countryside, despite the party’s opposition to rewilding.
The Reform-led Leicestershire county council has backed the release of the rodents as part of efforts to reduce flooding.
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05/03/2026 - 01:48
I’ve recently noticed several signs of adulthood in my behaviour. At first I was horrified, but I have come to accept, even enjoy, the natural ageing process
I nearly drove into a wall the other day, because I couldn’t take my eyes off some spectacular wisteria. Ten years ago I doubt I would have even noticed it, or known what it was, never mind been so transfixed that I unwittingly endangered my life. It’s pretty much invisible in your youth, and then suddenly, at a certain age, or stage, you see it, appreciate it and become mesmerised by its impressive display.
My botanical brush with death was the moment that I knew for certain: no matter how I feel inside, I am now unquestionably a grownup. This wisteria hysteria isn’t an isolated incident, of course. There have been several other definitely adult signifiers:
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05/02/2026 - 11:00
Electricity has become one of the most important commodities in the region thanks to demand from datacenters, Iran war and rising utility charges
For decades, the only regular visitors to the Twin Lake Reservoir in Lima, Ohio, were fishers passing hot summer evenings trying to snag a largemouth bass.
But today, it’s a hive of activity.
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05/02/2026 - 10:00
As Covid-era funding dries up and bus services are cut, a food insecurity crisis is brewing from Tennessee to Rhode Island
Zen’Yari Winters’ job, at a pet shop in East Memphis, Tennessee, should be a 20-minute trip from her house. She leaves herself three hours to get there. “The bus is always, always late,” she said – if it shows up at all.
It’s not just her work commute that’s affected by the time-consuming guessing game that is riding with the Memphis Area Transit Authority (Mata). The only full-service grocer in the Chelsea-Hollywood area where she lives closed in 2025. To shop for food in person, she could take two buses for a 13-mile (20km) trip to Walmart. But she risks waiting at bus stops for hours with perishables – or shelling out about $24 for an Uber back.
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05/02/2026 - 08:00
From Virginia to New York, the bugs drain vines, cut yields and leave growers resorting to one simple fix: squash them
Around grape harvest time about three years ago, an employee at Zephaniah Farm Vineyard in Leesburg, Virginia, noticed bugs, about 1in long with gray and black wings and a bright red underwing, atop some trees.
While the insects were pretty, they were there for the grapevines and not welcome guests at the vineyard, which sits atop a farm that the Zephaniah family has run since 1949.
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05/02/2026 - 07:00
Amid immigration raids, chemical spills, massive floods and costly healthcare, less-affluent residents of one of the most diverse US cities struggle to pull through
Cándido Álvarez has made it his policy never to go to the doctor.
“Not when I’m sick, not even when it’s serious,” he said. “I prefer not to go.”
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05/02/2026 - 06:38
Calf was transported by water-filled barge in operation deemed ‘inadvisable’ because of low chance of survival
Rescuers have released a young humpback whale that became a national sensation after it was beached in shallow waters off the coast in Germany, although marine experts have said its chances of survival are low.
The whale, variously nicknamed Timmy or Hope, was released into the North Sea off Denmark after being transported there in a water-filled barge by rescuers.
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05/02/2026 - 06:00
Jackie Morris and Robert Macfarlane give the Guardian exclusive extracts as they aim to open eyes to the wonder of Britain’s declining and endangered species
When the artist Jackie Morris collaborated with the writer Robert Macfarlane to celebrate the names of plants and animals controversially removed from the Oxford Junior Dictionary, they never imagined their book, The Lost Words, would become a cultural phenomenon.
Grassroots crowdfunding ensured the book was bought and donated to more than three-quarters of primary schools in England, Wales and Scotland and to every hospice in the country.
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05/02/2026 - 01:00
Documentary makers seek to start ‘informed conversation’ in country where public is allowed on just 8% of land
Anger and momentum are building for Scottish style rights of access to mountains, meadows, rivers and woodlands in England where the public is allowed on just 8% of land, a new documentary suggests.
Our Land, a film whose title is a nod to the protest song by Woody Guthrie, explores the rise of the right to roam movement in England.
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