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Explore Targets
Browse the Hit List to understand published Targets and the problems connected to them.
Open Explore Targets
Participate
Change the bit you can reach.
Field work and Online contribution take different forms: act in the real ecology, or explore ecological knowledge and try the Online Mission exercises. Personal Pocket Ecologist builds are a future stage. Watch offers example stories; programme video is not available. You can take part without entering the competition.
Returning participant? Sign in · New participant? Add yourself
Field observations give Online investigation its real-world context; Online research helps identify questions for the field. Keep sources, observations and interpretations distinct, with review before changing shared knowledge. A Map listing does not establish ACTIVE participation, and an exercise or personal build does not prove ecological impact.
Social participation
Have something already on social media?
Bring a public post or web reference into NZ Ex Games in your ACTIVE participant capacity. References stay private for review.
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Start with what is already public
No account is needed. Exploring these surfaces creates no assignment, Field authority or Competition eligibility.
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Search
Search published Targets by name, place and other public details.
Open SearchAvailable now
Living Map
Explore published Targets, places and sourced records. A listing does not mean someone has joined NZ Ex Games.
Open Living MapInvestigation exercises
Explore Missions and Hunt mode
Examine sources, find answers and identify what needs more evidence. Synthetic exercises are labelled and progress stays on this device.
Open Explore Missions and Hunt modeParticipation in practice
The work begins before the result
Ecological Action means carrying equipment into place and doing real work. Evidence can then support verification of claims about that work and change.
A field worker carries traps into forest: participation begins with practical work in a real place.
Christchurch area, Aotearoa New Zealand
Photo: Belle Gwilliam. Source: Department of Conservation · CC BY 4.0.
Equipment is carried through Travis Wetland before the intervention can be checked and recorded.
Travis Wetland, Christchurch
Photo: Belle Gwilliam. Source: Department of Conservation · CC BY 4.0.
Why participate
If you are already doing the work
These are aims for connected participation, including future contribution and recognition services. Public registration, uploads and competition entry are not open. Today you can explore sourced records and practise with the Mission exercises.
- Make your existing work visible, in the place where it happens.
- Record the work and provide evidence that supports verification over time.
- Find people, capability, knowledge, equipment, plants, labour or funding.
- Meet complementary participants working the same catchment or coast.
- Let separate actions combine into landscape-scale impact.
- Have demonstrated impact recognised rather than assumed.
- Explore how ecological performance is compared, and choose whether competing is for you.
- Reach a far wider audience with your ecological story and evidence.
See something you can change?
You don’t have to save the world. Change the bit you can reach
No membership, no project plan, no expertise required to begin.
Loop 01
Notice
See something that could be better — a verge, a drain, a gully, a dune.
Loop 02
Act
Do the thing within reach, however small.
Loop 03
Show
Record the Action and provide evidence that can support verification.
Loop 04
Connect
Find people, knowledge or resources that can extend it.
Loop 05
Amplify
Let many small Actions contribute to ecological change at a larger scale.
NZ Ex Games participation is not permission to enter land or undertake regulated field activity. You are responsible for obtaining required permission and acting safely and lawfully. Field participation terms
I can do this. We can do this. Look what changed.
Your ground
Start where you already stand
Ecological Action begins with a place: the catchment, coastline, reserve, berm or block you already know. Watch and Support are also valid ways to participate.
What you record can support verification of the work and help others find it. Evidence does not by itself establish ecological change or merit.
Open
Exploration
Real ecological work
Field
Ecological performance
Competition
Beyond competing
Contribution
Public exploration is free. No Competition entry or award is available here.
How to participate
Four ways in, one starting point: a place
People, projects, communities and supporters connect ecological work with the knowledge and resources it needs.
Pathway 01
People
Anyone acting on the patch they can reach — no organisation required.
Pathway 02
Projects
Existing operations making their work, evidence and trajectory visible.
Pathway 03
Communities
Localities, schools, hapū, landowners and businesses combining on a place.
Pathway 04
Supporters
Those backing a team's work without being on the ground themselves.
The sequence
Connecting work with its record
Connect the place, the people, the work and its evidence. Begin where you can make a useful contribution.
Step 01
Locate
Identify the place you are working on, or want to.
Step 02
Identity and role
Identify who does the work and who has permission to represent it.
Step 03
Work
Do the restoration work through the seasons.
Step 04
Record
Log activity and evidence so the change can be shown and judged.
Explore the work and participation principles here. Public registration, Field submission and Evidence upload are unavailable on this page.
The invitation
One person can start it. A community can finish it.
Explore the ground you know and the Action that matters there. NZ Ex Games is organised around ecological competition, with room for everyone who contributes to the work.