The

national park A national park is a natural park in use for conservation purposes, created and protected by national governments. Often it is a reserve of natural, semi-natural, or developed land that a sovereign state declares or owns. Although individual ...

s of New Zealand are protected natural areas administered by the

Department of Conservation An environmental ministry is a national or subnational government agency politically responsible for the environment and/or natural resources. Various other names are commonly used to identify such agencies, such as Ministry of the Environment ...

(DOC). The first national parks established in the country were all focused on mountain scenery. Since the 1980s the focus has been on developing a more diverse representation of New Zealand landscapes. The parks are all culturally significant and many also contain historic features.

Tongariro National Park Tongariro National Park (; ) is the oldest national park in New Zealand,Department of Conservation"Tongariro National Park: Features", retrieved 21 April 2013 located in the central North Island. It has been acknowledged by UNESCO as a World H ...

is one of the

World Heritage Sites A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area with legal protection by an international convention administered by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). World Heritage Sites are designated by UNESCO for ...

that are of both cultural and natural significance, while four of the

South Island The South Island, also officially named , is the larger of the two major islands of New Zealand in surface area, the other being the smaller but more populous North Island. It is bordered to the north by Cook Strait, to the west by the Tasman ...

national parks form

Te Wahipounamu Te Wāhipounamu (Māori for "the place of greenstone") is a World Heritage Site in the south west corner of the South Island of New Zealand. Inscribed on the World Heritage List in 1990 and covering , the site incorporates four national park ...

, another World Heritage Site. There are currently 13 national parks; a 14th,

Te Urewera National Park Te Urewera National Park was a national park near the east coast of New Zealand's North Island, established as such in 1954 and disestablished in 2014, when it was replaced by a new legal entity and protected area named ''Te Urewera''. The p ...

, was disestablished in 2014. The national parks are administered by the Department of Conservation "for the benefit, use, and enjoyment of the public". They are popular tourist destinations, with three-tenths of overseas tourists visiting at least one national park during their stay in New Zealand.

National Parks Act

The National Parks Act of 1980 was established in order to codify the purpose, governance and selection of national parks. It begins by establishing the definition of a national park: The National Parks Act goes on to state that the public will have freedom of entry and access to the parks, though this is subject to restrictions to ensure the preservation of native plants and animals and the welfare of the parks in general. Access to specially protected areas (550 km²) constituted under the act is by permit only. Under the Act, national parks are to be maintained in their natural state as far as possible to retain their value as soil, water and forest conservation areas. Native plants and animals are to be preserved and introduced plants and animals removed if their presence interferes with the natural wildlife. Development in wilderness areas established under the act is restricted to foot tracks and huts used for wild animal control or scientific research.

Services available for public use

The Act allows the Department of Conservation to provide hostels, huts, camping grounds, ski tows and similar facilities, parking areas, roading and tracks within the parks. In addition to these, the department also provides some accommodation, transport and other services at entry points to the parks, but these are also offered by other government agencies, voluntary organisations and private firms. More comprehensive services within the parks, such as guided walks and skiing tutorials, are privately provided with concessions from the department.

List of national parks

This table lists the current and former national parks from north to south.

Timeline

Define $dx = 25 # shift text to right side of bar Define $dy = -3 # shift text to right side of bar ImageSize = width:250 height:550 PlotArea = width: 25 height:530 left:50 bottom:10 DateFormat = yyyy Define $start = 1880 Define $now = 2002 Period = from:1880 till:2002 TimeAxis = orientation:vertical ScaleMajor = unit:year increment:10 start:1880 PlotData= bar:Leaders color:green width:25 mark:(line,white) align:left fontsize:S from:$start till:$now from:1887 till:1887 shift:($dx,$dy) fontsize:S text:

from:1900 till:1900 shift:($dx,$dy) fontsize:S text:

Egmont National Park Egmont National Park () is located south of New Plymouth, close to the west coast of the North Island of New Zealand. The park covers Mount Taranaki and its slopes. The park was first created in 1881 as a forest reserve and went on to become N ...

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Arthur's Pass National Park Arthur's Pass National Park is located in the South Island of New Zealand and covers 1,185 km2 of mostly mountainous terrain. Adjacent to it lies Craigieburn Forest Park. History Arthurs Pass National Park was established in 19 ...

from:1942 till:1942 shift:($dx,$dy) fontsize:S text:

Abel Tasman National Park Abel Tasman National Park is a New Zealand national park located between Golden Bay and Tasman Bay / Te Tai-o-Aorere at the north end of the South Island. It is named after Abel Tasman, who in 1642 became the first European explorer to sight Ne ...

from:1952 till:1952 shift:($dx,-8) fontsize:S text:

Fiordland National Park Fiordland National Park occupies the southwest corner of the South Island of New Zealand. It is by far the largest of the 13 national parks in New Zealand, with an area of , and a major part of the Te Wahipounamu World Heritage Site. The park ...

from:1953 till:1953 shift:($dx,$dy) fontsize:S text:

Aoraki / Mount Cook National Park Aoraki/Mount Cook National Park is in the South Island of New Zealand. Aoraki / Mount Cook, New Zealand's highest mountain, and the eponymous village lie within the park. The area was gazetted as a national park in October 1953 and consists ...

from:1955 till:1955 shift:($dx,$dy) fontsize:S text:

from:1957 till:1957 shift:($dx,$dy) fontsize:S text:

Nelson Lakes National Park Nelson Lakes National Park is in the South Island of New Zealand, at the northern end of the Southern Alps. It was formed after the passing of the National Parks Act in 1952. It was created in 1956 (one of four created in the 1950s). The park c ...

from:1960 till:1960 shift:($dx,$dy) fontsize:S text:

Westland Tai Poutini National Park Westland Tai Poutini National Park is a national park located on the western coast of New Zealand's South Island. Established in 1960 as Westland National Park to commemorate the centenary of the European settlement of Westland District, it co ...

from:1964 till:1964 shift:($dx,$dy) fontsize:S text: Mount Aspring National Park from:1986 till:1986 shift:($dx,-8) fontsize:S text: Whanganui National Park from:1987 till:1987 shift:($dx,$dy) fontsize:S text:

Paparoa National Park Paparoa National Park is on the west coast of the South Island of New Zealand. The park was established in 1987 and encompasses 430 km2 (166 sq mi). The park ranges from on or near the coastline to the peaks of the Paparoa Range. A sepa ...

from:1996 till:1996 shift:($dx,$dy) fontsize:S text: Kahurangi National Park from:2002 till:2002 shift:($dx,$dy) fontsize:S text:

Rakiura National Park Rakiura National Park is a nature reserve park located on Stewart Island / Rakiura, New Zealand. It is the newest national park of New Zealand and opened in 2002. The protected area covers about 85% of the island. History Rakiura National Pa ...

Proposed national parks

The area centred on

Waipoua Forest Waipoua Forest is a forest, on the west coast of the Northland Region of New Zealand's North Island. It preserves some of the best examples of kauri forest remaining in New Zealand. It is notable for having two of the largest living kauri t ...

, north of Dargaville, has been proposed as a possible Kauri National Park. The area contains most of New Zealand's remaining

kauri ''Agathis'', commonly known as kauri or dammara, is a genus of 22 species of evergreen tree. The genus is part of the ancient conifer family Araucariaceae, a group once widespread during the Jurassic and Cretaceous periods, but now largely res ...

, including the largest known kauri,

Tāne Mahuta Tāne Mahuta, also called "God of the Forest", is a giant kauri tree (''Agathis australis'') in the Waipoua Forest of Northland Region, New Zealand. Its age is unknown but is estimated to be between 1,250 and 2,500 years. It is the largest livin ...

. These stands of kauri are also valuable as havens for endangered species including the

North Island brown kiwi The North Island brown kiwi (''Apteryx mantelli''; ''Apteryx australis'' or ''Apteryx bulleri'' as before 2000, still used in some sources) is a species of kiwi that is widespread in the northern two-thirds of the North Island of New Zealand an ...

. This proposal is currently being investigated by the Department of Conservation. In response to a DoC proposal to upgrade the protection of

Great Barrier Island Great Barrier Island ( mi, Aotea) lies in the outer Hauraki Gulf, New Zealand, north-east of central Auckland. With an area of it is the sixth-largest island of New Zealand and fourth-largest in the main chain. Its highest point, Mount Hobson ...

(Aotea),

Forest and Bird Forest & Bird ( mi, Te Reo o te Taiao), also known by its formal name as the Royal Forest and Bird Protection Society of New Zealand, is an environmental organisation specialising in the protection and conservation of New Zealand's indigenous f ...

launched a campaign in 2014 to designate it as a National Park. In 2020, the New Zealand National Party announced that they would create two new national parks if elected at the general election, namely Coromandel National Park and Catlins National Park.

Mining concerns

In 2010 the New Zealand Government proposed removing some national park and conservation areas from Schedule 4 protection of the Crown Minerals Act which prohibits mining in those areas. In July the government abandoned the proposal after receiving a large number of submissions, most of which opposed mining.

References

External links

National Park information
at the

Kauri National Park proposal
at the Department of Conservation
- 'National parks'
in ''

Te Ara ''Te Ara: The Encyclopedia of New Zealand'' is an online encyclopedia established in 2001 by the New Zealand Government's Ministry for Culture and Heritage. The web-based content was developed in stages over the next several years; the first s ...

, The Encyclopedia of New Zealand'' (last updated 2015-08-15; accessed 2017-08-23). {{authority control

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island coun ...

National parks A national park is a natural park in use for conservation purposes, created and protected by national governments. Often it is a reserve of natural, semi-natural, or developed land that a sovereign state declares or owns. Although individua ...