Kahurangi National Park
| Kahurangi National Park | |
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| Location: | New Zealand |
| Specialty: | the park has the three longest caves in New Zealand |
| Surface: | 4520 km² |
| Founding: | 1996 |
| Address: | Motueka Cnr King Edward & High Streets, Motueka PO Box 97 Motueka Tel. 64 3 528 1810 |
Established in 1996, Kahurangi National Park (English: Kahurangi National Park ) is the second largest protected area in New Zealand with 4520 km² . It takes up practically the entire northwest corner of the South Island .
Most of the Kahurangi National Park is covered by the northernmost foothills of the New Zealand Alps ; a smaller part of the park consists of flat land. Its diverse landscape includes wild rivers, plateaus, mountain meadows with alpine vegetation, coastal forests and a karst landscape that has the longest cave system in New Zealand. The geological structure of the region is extraordinarily complex and New Zealand's oldest fossil (over 500 million years old) was found here.
Kahurangi - the name translates as "valuable property" - has the most biodiverse flora of all New Zealand parks: 1226 of 2450 native plant species occur here, 71 of them nowhere else. Depending on the location, there are very different habitats ; which differ, among other things, according to the altitude, but also whether they are on the east or the more precipitation-rich west side. As there were no mammals in the original fauna of New Zealand, the wildlife of the national park is dominated by its bird species. Various species of large carnivorous land snails that can be found here are of zoological interest.
The Kahurangi National Park is particularly popular with hikers, as it has an extensive network of hiking trails with several shelters leading through spectacular landscapes. One of these trails is the 78.4 km Heaphy Track , named after Charles Heaphy , which runs completely through the national park. The heart of the park is the 87,000 hectare, particularly strictly protected Tasman Wilderness Area, in which there are no paths or other changes made by human hands.
Web links
- Department of Conservation (English)
- natureandco.co.nz (English)
- Skylark Productions photos of the Kahurangi National Park (English)