Whirika

06/10/2026

Sometimes the answer isn't in the data you've got. It's in the data you haven't measured yet.

When Apollo Foods wanted to understand its options for moving away from natural gas, our team discovered that the hourly gas data was missing a crucial part of the picture.

Rather than accepting the limitations of the available information, we created our own solution.

Senior Energy and Carbon Specialist Carl Newby designed and 3D-printed a custom camera housing that enabled 30-second monitoring of Apollo's gas meter. Combined with AI-powered analysis, the approach revealed demand spikes that standard reporting simply couldn't see.

The result? A much clearer understanding of Apollo's process heat demand and a stronger evidence base for future infrastructure decisions.

This project is a great example of the practical, innovative thinking our team brings to complex energy challenges.

🔗Read the full story here: https://www.whirika.co.nz/case-studies/apollo-foods-pathway-away-from-gas

29/09/2026

"Biodiversity offsetting is just a loophole — develop now, plant a few trees later"

This is a fair concern — and one worth taking seriously, because badly designed offsetting absolutely can work that way.

But here's what good offsetting actually looks like in practice.

Our work with OceanaGold at Macraes Flat involves carefully rehabilitating naturally ephemeral wetlands on dry farms around Middlemarch, and restoring native plant communities near Macraes and in North Otago. These are rare, fragile habitats in a challenging landscape — not the kind of thing you can plant and walk away from.

The methodology we've developed is designed to set the highest standards in habitat restoration: long-term monitoring, genuine commitment from the client, and a goal of achieving real biodiversity gains, not just ticking a consent condition.

The key word in all of that is long-term. Biodiversity offsetting done properly isn't a transaction. It's an ongoing relationship with a place and its species. It requires planning, ecological expertise, patience, and accountability.

Done well, it can be a genuinely powerful tool for protecting the things that matter most in the landscape.

🔗Read more: whirika.co.nz/case-studies/biodiversity-offsetting-for-oceanagold

29/09/2026

🌿 We're growing our ecology team! 🌿

Do you want to help restore and protect the natural environments that make Aotearoa unique?

Whirika is looking for two passionate ecologists to join our Biodiversity & Restoration team:

📍 Senior Ecologist | Queenstown Lakes District
A fantastic opportunity for an experienced ecologist to lead and grow ecological work in the Queenstown Lakes area.

📍 Ecologist | Ōtepoti Dunedin
An opportunity for an enthusiastic ecologist to contribute to ecological monitoring, restoration projects, GIS mapping, research, and environmental consultancy work across Otago and beyond.

At Whirika, we work alongside iwi, communities, businesses and government to deliver integrated environmental solutions that create lasting positive impact. As a Certified B Corporation, we're passionate about combining science, collaboration and innovation to care for people and place.

Interested or know someone who might be?

👉 Senior Ecologist - https://nz.seek.com/job/94927770

👉 Ecologist - https://nz.seek.com/job/94929018

Please share with your networks to help us find the right people.

Enthusiastic Ecologist to support Biodiversity and Restoration work in Ōtepoti Dunedin.

25/08/2026

"Energy transition is something businesses do when they're ready — there's no urgency"

This is the view we encounter most often in the early stages of an energy conversation. It usually comes from organisations that haven't yet felt the full force of what's happening in NZ's gas market.

The reality is that 80% of gas contracts are set to expire soon, and businesses are reporting little confidence in securing favourable long-term replacements. A survey by BusinessNZ Energy Council found that 36% of gas users are already facing 20–50% price increases. Some have experienced hikes of up to 200%.

Industry experts are warning that significant supply constraints could impact business viability within three to five years, with some sectors already feeling the pressure.

Businesses that plan strategically now — assessing transition options, identifying efficiency gains, understanding their funding pathways — are in a fundamentally different position to those that wait for a crisis to force the decision.
The window for unhurried planning is narrowing. The organisations that will manage this transition most smoothly are the ones that started the conversation before they had to.

EECA can fund 100% of the cost of an initial walk-through energy audit. The first step doesn't have to cost anything. The cost of waiting might.

🔗https://www.whirika.co.nz/blog/secure-your-energy-future-before-the-gas-crunch

09/08/2026

05/08/2026

Better decisions start with better understanding.

Sometimes it's a business being able to see the impact of more than a decade of emissions reductions. Sometimes it's a community helping track predator activity across an entire city. Sometimes it's communities gathering the information they need to better understand and care for their waterways.

While the stories in this edition span different sectors and challenges, they share a common theme: meaningful change starts with understanding what's really happening on the ground. That's a common theme we explore in our latest newsletter.

🔗Read the newsletter: https://mailchi.mp/07a958d28c10/6shmzwg3nd-10347808

27/07/2026

"Community consultation is a box-ticking exercise — people don't really engage"

We've heard this from planners, from developers, from local government staff who've sat through too many poorly attended public meetings. The cynicism is understandable.

But the Dream South D project in South Dunedin is a useful counterexample — not because it used fancy technology or offered prizes for participation, but because it asked the right questions and genuinely listened to the answers.

Three simple questions went out to the community: what do you love about South D? How could it be better? If you could change one thing, what would it be? The survey went out by postcard and online. Events, workshops, and conversations filled in the rest.

Over 360 unique survey responses came back. Multiple in-person events. Many hours of listening. The result was a community plan shaped by real voices — grounded in local strengths, guided by shared aspirations, and already generating completed projects.

The difference between consultation that works and consultation that doesn't isn't participation rates. It's whether people believe their input will actually shape something. Dream South D made that promise credible — and the community showed up.

Read more: whirika.co.nz/case-studies/dream-south-d

30/06/2026

"Native reforestation at scale is just too slow and expensive to be practical"

The maths on traditional handplanting can feel overwhelming when you're looking at thousands of hectares of degraded land. Which is exactly why a different approach was worth trying.
Working with Envico Technologies and the University of Otago, our team developed and trialled drone-dispersed seed pods — compost, clay powder, water, and native tree seeds, formed into something roughly the shape of an apricot stone, and dropped by drone across terrain that would be difficult or impossible to plant by hand.
51,000 seed pods were deployed across the first field trial site — a cutover pine block in the Hunua Ranges managed by Watercare. Monitoring plots were established to track native vegetation progress over several years. The method has since been trialled in gorse scrub in Dunedin and burnt scrubland in Wānaka.
This isn't about replacing the careful ecological work of hands-on restoration. It's about reaching the places that hands can't easily reach and doing it at a scale that the urgency of the problem demands.
NZ has a lot of land to restore. The question was never whether we had the will — it was whether we had the tools. Turns out, we might be building them.

🔗Read more: whirika.co.nz/case-studies/drone-dispersed-seed-pods

17/06/2026

Kākā are spreading their wings, Blueskin Rd is open, and we are getting some lovely winter days. To celebrate Orokonui Ecosanctuary will be offering half price sanctuary access this weekend the 20th & 21st of June.

Come explore the sanctuary for half price self guided entry. This time of year there are some great opportunities to see forest birds close up, the forest itself is looking its most lush, and the takahē will be their regular fantastic selves.

The sanctuary will be open its regular hours 9:30am - 4:30pm, while the cafe will be opening early for the weekend 9:30am -3pm. We can't wait to see you there 🌿

01/06/2026

"People won't go out of their way to recycle — convenience always wins"

Before we designed Dunedin's inner-city recycling hubs, we actually tested this assumption. We surveyed residents in the neighbourhoods where we were working.
What they told us: they would walk a couple of blocks to drop off recycling — if the facilities were easy to use, close by, and felt safe.

That's not "convenience always wins." That's people who want to do the right thing, and just need the infrastructure to make it possible.

So we built it. Working with ZealSteel and local artists, we designed a series of public recycling hubs for Dunedin's inner city — laser-cut steel housings reflecting the heritage and character of each location, LED-lit for 24-hour access, and placed where people actually are.

The pilots worked. Then came more hubs for Moray Place, Clyde Street, Forth Street, Castle Street. Each one a visible, functional, beautiful part of the neighbourhood.

The insight that drove it is worth sitting with: the gap between intention and action on recycling usually isn't about motivation. It's about infrastructure. People want to participate — they just need somewhere to go.

Read more: https://www.whirika.co.nz/case-studies/dunedin-city-recycling-hubs