Nature in New Zealand
LAND AND WILDLIFE

In this section, find information about major features of the New Zealand natural environment: landscapes, mountains, coastal marine areas, volcanoes and earthquakes, wildlife, parks and protected areas.

National Parks Quick links ---------- Abel Tasman Arthur's Pass Egmont Fiordland Kahurangi Mt Aspiring Mt Cook Nelson Lakes Paparoa Tongariro Urewera Westland Whanganui

Landforms Quick links ---------- Mountains Tectonics - Earthquakes Volcanoes

Marine Parks Quick links ---------- Bay of Islands Hauraki Gulf

Seabirds Quick links ---------- Black Billed Gull Black-fronted Tern Blue Penguin Cape Pigeon Caspian Tern Gannet Northern Royal Albatross Sooty Shearwater Spotted Shag Wandering Albatross Westland Petrel Yellow-eyed Penguin

Natural Regions Quick links ---------- Auckland Bay of Plenty Canterbury Christchurch Coromandel Eastland Hawke's Bay Mackenzie-Mt Cook Manawatu Marlborough Nelson Northland Otago Queenstown Rotorua Ruapehu Southland Taranaki Taupo Waikato Wairarapa Wanaka

New Zealand is a land of distinctive character, both in its physical aspect, and in the individuality of its wildlife and flora.
Much of this character is the direct result of the location of the New Zealand landmass on the line of contact of two continental plates (the Pacific Plate and the Indian-Australian Plate).
The events generated by the movements of these plates over 100 million years are responsible for some of the main features of New Zealand's environment:

• Subduction created volcanism, responsible for volcanic landscapes, both recent (Tongariro, Egmont) or earlier (Waitakere Ranges, Coromandel Peninsula),
• Tectonic activity, the relative movement of the two plates along the Alpine Fault in particular, that resulted in the uplift of the Southern Alps,
• The break up of Gondwanaland, that led to 80 million years of isolation for the New Zealand landmass in the South Pacific, in turn responsible for the evolution of specific, distinctive ecosystems and species.

Isolation also resulted in New Zealand being one of the latest landmasses colonised by humans, almost certainly less than 1000 years ago.
Human impact on New Zealand's native environment was considerable, resulting in modified ecosystems (dramatic forest cover reduction), and loss of species.
Nowadays, a large proportion of New Zealand's land area is protected, with 14 national parks, 20 forest parks, 4 maritime parks, and over 3500 reserves.
However many species are endangered, and important ecosystems are becoming increasingly threatened. The importance of the conservation and the restoration of New Zealand's natural environments has been recognised and both Government and private organisations are working towards this end.