Alexis Farr

The 2025 Environmental Perceptions Survey provides unique insight into a nationally representative sample ( n = 1024) of New Zealanders’ perceptions of freshwater fish. About 8% of the sample had fished in the past 12 months and 30% had fished ever, and fisher subsamples were more male, more Māori and younger than the New Zealand population. Perceived awareness of local freshwater fish presence was higher for fishers than non‐fishers for all species, but both shared highest awareness of eel/tuna, whitebait and trout, which are also the most commonly fished species. Assessment of national fishing popularity and fishing pressure was mixed, but regional trends are evident. Respondents agreed that there are not enough freshwater fish, that fishers should be able to eat what they catch and that fish are healthy enough to eat. Respondents prefer more of all freshwater fish species rather than only one or two species. This data can help understand how people's relationships with freshwater and fish are changing and possibilities for building alliances for freshwater stewardship.

This article introduces shade as an elemental actor of more-than-human geography, related to the crises of urban heat stress and shade inequality in Western Sydney, Dharug Country, Australia. While urban geography, health, and environmental planning literatures have largely framed shade in human-centric terms, we advocate for more nuanced understandings that integrate Indigenous relational and more-than-human dimensions. Recognising the interconnectedness of ecological communities, we examine shade not as a passive asset or product of urban planning, but as an active participant in the urban ecosystem. This shift encourages a deeper consideration of shade's qualities, dynamics, temporality, and labours–including cooling, water retention, and habitat creation–while also acknowledging its agency to restrict flows of movement or limit the productivity of urban green spaces. We demonstrate the practical applications of a ‘lively shade’ approach through a case study of Western Sydney, illustrating how holistic understandings of shade in this region can inform more inclusive and adaptive climate futures.

Globalizing forces keep creating new “alien” or “introduced” species, but what should be done about these new nonhuman neighbors is contested. Arguments about whether species belong often bundle together claims about what is and what should be, which can create an uneven playing field that overlooks the diversity of human relations with new neighbors. This paper aims to distinguish a constructive path forward by distilling four ways that species are deemed to belong. From the literature, we identify nativeness, wildness, contributions, and right relations as distinct registers of belonging. We elaborate on the values and worldviews that each register enfolds, and who typically benefits from these regimes. Drawing from case examples, we show how this conceptual framework can help to expose the wider meanings and effects of new neighbors, broaden decision-making beyond technocratic debates, and compose new alternatives for conservation and wildlife governance.