Lapland in Finland is inviting tourists for a summer-long hunt for hidden gold treasure. Participants will explore the trails and landmarks of Levi, a resort in northern Finland, where fortune hunters will search for a gold bar worth $40,000 NZD.

The Midnight Sun Hunt began yesterday at the Levi Visitor Centre. Participants can collect their first clue and register for the hunt at the centre. After, further clues will be shared, leading hikers through local trails, attractions and landmarks, each bringing them closer to the hidden prize.

The gold bar could be found after any clue, organisers said, with additional hints released throughout the summer, gradually making the gold’s location easier to identify. The final clue is set to be revealed on August 22.

Satu Pesonen, CEO of Visit Levi, said, “We want to give travellers a new reason to visit Levi when the sun never sets and the fell landscape reveals a completely different side of itself.”

Participants are asked to respect the natural environment. The hunt does not require digging or disturbing the terrain in any way, organisers said. Read more from CNN.

See dazzling photos of new species from expedition to remote Angolan plateau

Seen as one of Africa’s last great biodiversity blank spots, the in-depth exploration of the upper Cassai catchment area on Angola’s eastern plateau revealed eight undescribed dragonfly species, three new grasshopper species, and around 60 new moths and butterflies. 

The findings, from the Cassai Life Atlas, a biodiversity survey conducted by The Wilderness Project in February 2026, provide a vital picture of the biodiversity across the Lisima landscape, which sits within the Angolan Highlands Water Tower in eastern Angola’s Moxico Province.

Despite its ecological importance, decades of civil war, persistent landmines, and extreme remoteness left the region almost entirely uncharted by scientists. “We expected the area to be diverse, based on our previous work in the Okavango and Lungwevungu catchments, where species turnover in the Angolan Miombo Woodlands is very high,” says Rob Taylor, the expedition leader and conservation ecologist.

“The result of the survey was higher diversity than we anticipated. Abundances were often low, partly because these systems are nutrient-poor, but the diversity of specialised and unusual species was remarkable.” Read more from Discover Wildlife. 

Can Long-Distance Hiking Support Trauma Recovery?

For those who have experienced trauma, time on the trail may offer meaningful therapeutic healing, at least in part, for some of the ways that traumatic experiences have shaped them. 

Extended time in the wilderness offers space to process life experiences that might not otherwise have time to be fully digested, while also helping to reshape internal narratives about the self in therapeutic landscapes.

Research shows that long-distance hiking helps reduce trauma symptoms for many participants. Jocelyn Smith, also known by her trail name Unhinged Hiker, is a thru-hiker recovering from complex trauma who believes that time on the trail offers an opportunity to rewrite internal narratives in relation to enduring challenges and suffering. “For some of us, the trail is more than an endurance sport; it becomes a way of reclaiming suffering itself.”

Outdoor adventure research backs up this idea. When outdoor challenges and risks are chosen voluntarily, they can create opportunities for empowerment, self-efficacy, and the expansion of identity. Read more from Psychology Today.

Zoo Hut incorrectly labelled as closed

After a weekend hike to Isolated Hill Scenic Reserve in March, tramping mother and daughter duo Victoria and Emilie Bruce stopped by Zoo Hut.

Although listed on the DOC website as permanently closed as of March 27 this year, the hut was in excellent condition with an easy-to-follow track and a “steady stream” of recent entries in the hut book, Bruce said. Bruce contacted DOC, who confirmed the hut was closed.

However, when contacted by Wilderness in early May, DOC South Marlborough’s principal ranger, Sarah Haughey, said the hut is actually open to the public. “A web alert was erroneously added to the webpage earlier this year and is being removed,” she said.

Zoo Hut and Isolation Hut have been incorrectly marked as closed on topographical maps too, a hangover from when all huts in the wider area were closed following the Kaikōura earthquake. DOC will work with LINZ to remedy this. Read more from Wilderness.

Kōkako hit record numbers in Hūnua Ranges after baby boom

Kōkako have hit record numbers in the Hūnua Ranges after a baby boom in the bush. Auckland council’s latest kōkako census recorded 418 breeding pairs across the Hunua ranges, a 61 percent increase since the last census in 2022.

Principal ranger Miranda Bennett said seeing so many young birds was exactly what rangers wanted, Bennett said. “It tells us breeding has been successful over multiple seasons and that these youngsters are surviving long enough to join the breeding population themselves.”

It typically takes around two years for a fledgling kōkako to establish a territory and enter the breeding population, she said.

Researchers have estimated around 500 kōkako lived in the Hunua ranges in the 1950s, but by the late 1960s the numbers had crashed to around 50 birds, and in 1994 there were just 25 birds remaining.

Auckland councillor Richard Hills said the record numbers in the latest survey were cause for celebration. “Congratulations to mana whenua, every volunteer, ranger, council staff members, and contractor who has worked so hard to turn their vision, passion and work into this incredible comeback for a population that was nearly wiped out.” Read more from RNZ.