A report card's been issued for our conservation work, and it's a case of 'more effort required'.

The sixth national report to the United Nation Convention on Biological Diversity says our land and waterways continue to face significant pressures.

It says restoration programmes haven't yet delivered major improvements. Of the 4,000 species monitored, just the status of just 24 of our native species improving. 87 went down a category. 

The report also says thousands of native plant and wildlife species remain threatened or at risk of extinction.

Forest & Bird's Anton Van Helden told Mike Hosking we have a lot of species which are suffering badly.

"It shows the depth of the crisis which is affecting New Zealand's plants and animals."

He says that we don't know how a lot of these species are faring, as a lot of fall into the "data deficient" category, and they should be assumed as threatened. 

Van Helden says our marine areas are one place we're falling well behind our own targets.

"We only have 0.4 per cent of our marine environment in full, no take protection. We're aiming at a target of 10 per cent by 2020."

He says what we really need, and what many nations are now aiming for, is to have 30 percent protected by 2030.