UNESCO World Heritage Sites in New Zealand

UNESCO's Description

The landscape in this park, situated in south-west New Zealand, has been shaped by successive glaciations into fjords, rocky coasts, towering cliffs, lakes and waterfalls. Two-thirds of the park is covered with southern beech and podocarps, some of which are over 800 years old. The kea, the only alpine parrot in the world, lives in the park, as does the rare and endangered takahe, a large flightless bird.

From the UNESCO World Heritage Centre (CC BY-SA IGO 3.0).

Description

Te Wahipounamu stretches 450 kilometres (280 mi) along the western coastline of the South Island of New Zealand. The elevation of this land area ranges from sea level to 3,724 metres (12,218 ft) at Aoraki / Mount Cook. In some places it extends inland as far as 90 kilometres (56 mi). Within Te Wahipounamu there is a multitude of natural features including snow-capped peaks, sapphire lakes, waterfalls, fiords, and valleys. It is also home to hundreds of the world's most active glaciers, but the main two are Franz Josef Glacier and Fox Glacier. It is the largest and least modified area of New Zealand's natural ecosystem. And as such, the flora and fauna of the area is the world's best modern representation of the ancient biota of Gondwanaland.

Tourism

The main tourist attractions within Te Wahipounamu are Milford Sound / Piopiotahi and the Milford Track, Lake Te Anau and the Kepler Track, the Routeburn Track and Mount Aspiring / Tititea, Aoraki / Mount Cook and the Haupapa / Tasman, Franz Josef, and Fox Glaciers. There are only two main roads in the region, the Haast Highway and Milford Highway. Along these highways, which are referred to as the “Heritage Highway” corridors, is a network of ten visitor centres and a multitude of nature walks. A main attraction to Te Wahipounamu, and New Zealand in general, is the natural landscape. A study found that key motivating factors for visitors to Te Wahipounamu are the scenery and recreational activities. Tourism within Te Wahipounamu is nature-based, ‘green’ tourism.

Key Facts

Facts from Wikidata Q575398 (CC0).

UNESCO's Description

In 1993 Tongariro became the first property to be inscribed on the World Heritage List under the revised criteria describing cultural landscapes. The mountains at the heart of the park have cultural and religious significance for the Maori people and symbolize the spiritual links between this community and its environment. The park has active and extinct volcanoes, a diverse range of ecosystems and some spectacular landscapes.

From the UNESCO World Heritage Centre (CC BY-SA IGO 3.0).

Geography

Tongariro National Park covers an area of 795.96 km2 (307.32 sq mi) (including the Pihanga Scenic Reserve) surrounding the massif of the three active volcanoes Mount Ruapehu, Mount Ngauruhoe, and Mount Tongariro in the centre of the North Island. The northern boundary of the park is just a few kilometres west-southwest of Lake Taupō. The Tongariro National Park Visitor Centre at Whakapapa Village is 338 km (210 mi) south of Auckland by road, and 337 km (209 mi) north of Wellington.

Pihanga Scenic Reserve, though isolated from the main park area, is also part of the national park. It covers 51.29 km2 (19.80 sq mi), including Lake Rotopounamu, Mount Pihanga and the Kakaramea-Tihia Massif.

Geology

The park's volcanoes are at the southern end of a 2,500 km-long (1,600 mi) range of volcanoes stretching to Samoa, below which the Australian Plate meets the Pacific Plate. These volcanoes have resulted from internal tectonic processes. The Pacific Plate subducts under the Australian plate, and subsequently melts due to the high temperatures of the asthenosphere. This magma, being less dense, rises to the surface and goes through the weak parts of the Earth's crust (the faults) resulting in volcanic processes in the area.

Volcanic processes have been building the mountains of Tongariro National Park for over two million years.

Ecology

The park has numerous vegetation zones which usually have distinct boundaries: forest, shrub, scrubland, tussock, fernland, sedgeland, rushland, moss field, gravel and stone fields and ice fields. Vegetation patterns are generally determined by altitude, for example the mountain beech is generally found above 1000 m, but also depend on other factors: existing forests have developed since the Taupō pumice eruption which destroyed the park's northern and eastern forests; tussock and shrubland are the result of burning, except those above the treeline which are related to climate and soil conditions; poor soil drainage resulted in bracken fernlands, sedgeland and rushlands around Hauhungatahi. Erosion and climate allow only small tussock and shrubs to grow in gravel and stone fields.

History

According to Māori oral history, Ngāti Tūwharetoa ancestor Ngātoro-i-rangi climbed the volcanoes 30 generations ago, naming Tongariro and other landscape features and claiming the area for his descendants.

Around 1750, Te Rangihiroa, son of local chief Pakaurangi, was said to have explored the area around the volcanoes in the park. The Māori name for Blue Lake, near the Tongariro Alpine Crossing, is Te Wai-whakaata-o-te-Rangihiroa, which can be translated as 'Rangihiroa's mirror'. Te Rangihiroa's sister was Te Maari, whose name was given to the Te Maari craters on Tongariro.

John Bidwill is thought to be the first European to climb Mount Ngauruhoe, in March 1839.

Key Facts

Facts from Wikidata Q202845 (CC0).

Visiting Tongariro National Park

Tongariro National Park, in the central North Island of New Zealand, contains the three active volcanoes of Mount Ruapehu (the island's highest peak), Mount Tongariro and Mount Ngauruhoe. It is one of the North Island's most popular areas for day tramping, multi-day tramping and snow sports. The island's two main skifields are on Ruapehu. The park was New Zealand's first national park and is a World Heritage site.

Travel notes adapted from Wikivoyage: Tongariro National Park (CC BY-SA 4.0).

UNESCO's Description

The New Zealand Sub-Antarctic Islands consist of five island groups (the Snares, Bounty Islands, Antipodes Islands, Auckland Islands and Campbell Island) in the Southern Ocean south-east of New Zealand. The islands, lying between the Antarctic and Subtropical Convergences and the seas, have a high level of productivity, biodiversity, wildlife population densities and endemism among birds, plants and invertebrates. They are particularly notable for the large number and diversity of pelagic seabirds and penguins that nest there. There are 126 bird species in total, including 40 seabirds of which eight breed nowhere else in the world.

From the UNESCO World Heritage Centre (CC BY-SA IGO 3.0).

Ecology

The Antipodes, Auckland, Bounty and Campbell Islands are collectively designated the Antipodean Islands in the World Geographical Scheme for Recording Plant Distributions. The Snares Islands / Tini Heke are included with the South Island in New Zealand South under the scheme.

History

These islands were uninhabited at the time of European discovery, nonetheless, there is evidence of Māori and/or Polynesian visits to some of the island groups, and some were still known to Māori at the time of European contact.

Antipodes Islands (Moutere Mahue)– Claims of a pottery shard found here in 1886, although this is contested.

Auckland Islands (Motu Maha/Maungahuka) – Traces of Polynesian settlement, possibly dating to the 13th century, have been found by archaeologists on Enderby Island. This is the most southerly settlement by Polynesians yet known.

Snares Islands (Tini Heke) – The islands were already known to the Māori, who called one of the larger islands Te Taniwha ("The sea-monster"). They are visible from near Stewart Island in good conditions.

Key Facts

Facts from Wikidata Q46275 (CC0).

Visiting New Zealand Subantarctic Islands

New Zealand's Subantarctic Islands are five groups of uninhabited and windswept islands in the Southern Ocean far to the south or east of Stewart Island. Once a hazard in the days of sailing ships, the islands are now wildlife preserves which, due to their isolation, are only visited occasionally, mostly by scientists or conservation workers. The islands are inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List.

Travel notes adapted from Wikivoyage: New Zealand Subantarctic Islands (CC BY-SA 4.0).