New Zealand National Parks

Able Tasman National Park

What is a National Park?

It’s a place that’s really beautiful.
A place to enjoy now and protect for the future.

A national park is a large area (at least 10,000 hectares) that contains scenery of such distinctive quality, ecological systems or natural features so beautiful, unique, or scientifically important that their preservation is in the national interest.

National parks are created for two main reasons…

They are meant to protect the native plants and animals and landscapes of an area forever.
They are places where people can enjoy themselves - tramping, picnicking, skiing, canoeing, bird watching – but not by changing or disturbing the environment.

National parks are also used for environmental education and scientific research.

New Zealand’s first national park was Tongariro National Park. The mountain peaks of Tongariro, Ngauruhoe and Ruapehu were gifted to the state by Ngati Tuwharetoa to be given national park status in 1887. This was 15 years after the world’s first national park, Yellowstone, in the United States.

1887 - Tongariro – 79,598 hectares
1900 - Egmont – 33,543 hectares
1929 - Arthur’s Pass – 114,394 hectares
1942 - Abel Tasman – 22,541 hectares
1952 - Fiordland – 1,257,000 hectares
1953 - Mt Cook (Aorangi) – 70,728 hectares
1954 - Te Urewera – 212,673 hectares
1956 - Nelson Lakes – 101,753 hectares
1960 - Westland – 117,607 hectares
1964 - Mt Aspiring – 355,543 hectares
1986 - Whanganui – 74,231 hectares
1987 - Paparoa – 30,560 hectares
1996 - Kahurangi – 452,000 hectares
2001 - Rakiura (Stewart Island) - 163,000 hectares (approximately 85% of Stewart Island)

Total area = 3,085,171 hectares

Where are these national parks? National Park Map

The Royal Forest and Bird Protection Society (New Zealand's leading conservation group) was formed in 1923 and has played a key role in the creation of every new national park since then.

Some of New Zealand’s national parks are also World Heritage Areas...

New Zealand has three World Heritage Sites:

1990 - Te Wahipounamu/South West New Zealand
(In 1986 Fiordland National Park and the combined Mount Cook and Westland National Parks were recognised as separate World Heritage areas, but these original sites joined with Mount Aspiring National Park in 1990 to become the single World Heritage Site Te Wahipounamu. Thanks to a Forest and Bird led campaign.)
1990 - Tongariro National Park
1998 - New Zealand Sub-Antarctic Islands

Would you like to know more about New Zealand’s World Heritage Sites? Go to www.doc.govt.nz/cons/land/world.htm

To learn more about World Heritage Sites go to www.unesco.org/whc/nwhc/pages/home/pages/homepage.htm

Mt Ruapehu - Tongariro World Heritage Area

Who looks after New Zealand’s national parks?

The Department of Conservation looks after about one third of New Zealand's land area protected for scenic, scientific, recreational historic or cultural reasons. This includes national parks and forest parks, reserves, river margins, some coastline and many offshore islands. Active conservation management is undertaken including pest, weed and predator control, eco-system restoration, and mainland island management.

Check the DOC website to learn more www.doc.govt.nz/cons/land/land.htm

To see a map of the parts of New Zealand DOC looks after go to www.doc.govt.nz/cons/land/admin.htm

Fiordland National Park

When you visit national parks you can help to care for them too…

Always make sure your rubbish goes in the bin or home with you – please don’t litter.
Keep pets out of national parks
Do not remove native plants and animals from national parks
Do not disturb native wildlife
If you see people damaging natural features or harming native wildlife in a national park, let DOC know

Enjoy New Zealand’s National Parks!

The National park information was written in August 2000. Updated May 2001.

Photos courtesy of Grant Newton (Whanganui, Arthurs Pass, Aspiring, Fiordland), Carol Knutson (Tongariro, Taranaki, Able Tasman, Nelson Lakes, Paparoa, Takahe, Stewart Island), Karli Thomas (Kahurangi).