Despite looking like a pristine paradise, New Zealand may not be as sustainable as you think. Photo / Getty Images. Opinion by Kate Hall. OPINION.

An unusual northern rātā tree that looks like it is striding across an empty field has been crowned New Zealand's Tree of the Year. The giant plant, which looks strikingly similar to an Ent from ...

New Zealand was the first country in the world to recognize natural features as people when a law passed in 2014 granted personhood to Te Urewera, a vast native forest on the North Island.