Unity was walking through a patch of native bush when she stopped. Something was missing. She listened carefully. Silence. No birds. No rustling. Nothing.

"It wasn't always this quiet," said an old tūī perched above her. "When I was young, this forest was full of sound."

New Zealand's natural environment is extraordinary — but it has taken a battering. When people first arrived in Aotearoa, they brought animals with them: rats, possums, stoats, and others. These predators had never been here before, and our native birds had no defence against them. Many species were wiped out. The huia is gone forever. The kākāpō — the world's heaviest parrot — came within a hair's breadth of disappearing entirely.

Our rivers and waterways have also struggled. As farmland expanded, fertilizers and animal waste washed into streams and lakes, affecting water quality across the country. Many of our most beloved rivers are not as clean as they once were.

But New Zealand is also fighting back. Predator-free sanctuaries protect our rarest birds. Volunteers set thousands of traps across the country every week. The kiwi — that is me — is being carefully protected through breeding programmes and predator control. The kākāpō population is slowly, carefully, growing.

The concept of kaitiakitanga — a te reo Māori word meaning guardianship or stewardship of the natural world — has been part of Māori culture for centuries. It means we do not own the land. We are its guardians. We look after it for the generations who come after us.

"It is not too late," said Unity. "But it does need all of us."