For over 50 years the Environmental Defence Society (EDS) has been at the forefront of protecting Aotearoa New Zealand's natural environments. From the Think Big power projects of the 1970s, to coastal developments on pristine northland beaches and the destruction of the Mackenzie Country's unique drylands habitat, EDS has used the law to hold developers, businesses, councils and government to account and develop new legal frameworks to protect our precious landscapes. This is the story of how a small organisation took on the establishment and won.