Fiordland National Park

Information about Fiordland National Park

Fiordland National Park
IUCN Category II (National Park)
Map of New Zealand Map of New Zealand
Location	Southland, New Zealand
Nearest city	Te Anau, New Zealand
Coordinates
Area	12,500 kmÂ²
Established	1952
Governing body	Department of Conservation

Milford Sound: Mitre Peak, the mountain on the left, rises 1692 metres above the Sound.

An entry to Fiordland National Park.

Lake Te Anau

Sheerdown Peak

Fiordland National Park occupies the southwest corner of the South Island of New Zealand. It is the largest of the 14 national parks in New Zealand, with an area of 12,500 kmÂ², and a major part of the Te Wahipounamu World Heritage site. The park is administered by the Department of Conservation.

Geographical features

During the cooler past, glaciers carved many deep fiords, the most famous (and most visited) of which is Milford Sound. Other notable fiords include Doubtful Sound and Dusky Sound.

Fiordland's coast is steep and crenellated, with the fiords running from the valleys of the southern ranges of the Southern Alps, such as the Kepler and Murchison Mountains. At the northern end of the park, several peaks rise to over 2000 metres.

Ice has carved islands from the mainland, leaving two large uninhabited offshore islands, Secretary Island and Resolution Island. Several large lakes lie wholly or partly within the park's boundaries, notably Lake Te Anau, Lake Manapouri, Lake Monowai, Lake Hauroko, and Lake Poteriteri. The Sutherland Falls, to the southwest of Milford Sound on the Milford Track, are among the world's highest waterfalls.

Prevailing westerly winds blow moist air from the Tasman Sea onto the mountains; the cooling of this air as it rises produces a prodigious amount of rainfall, exceeding seven metres in many parts of the park. This supports the lush temperate rain forests of the Fiordland temperate forests ecoregion.

Wildlife

The wildlife in this area include dolphins, seals, mice, rats, birds, hare and deer. Among the birds are the Kakapo, the only flightless parrot in the world. Also there is the kiwi, which is native to New Zealand.

Public access

Road access to Fiordland is restricted to the Milford Road (SH 94), which runs north from Te Anau, skirting the edge of the park before entering it close to the headwaters of the Eglinton River. From there it crosses the nortwest corner of the park, reaching its terminus at Milford Sound. South of Te Anau a smaller road links to Manapouri. A minor road links Doubtful Sound with the western edge of Lake Manapouri.

Light aircraft and helicopter services link with Milford Sound, which also has a small boat marina.

Activities

The park is a popular destination for alpine climbers and especially for trampers, with the Milford, Kepler, Hollyford and Routeburn Tracks all in or close to the park.

Other tourists are attracted to areas such as Milford Sound.

Helicopter hunting

As long ago as the 1920s, the park was plagued with introduced European deer, detrimental to the native New Zealand flora and fauna. The government placed a bounty on the deer, paying local hunters for each animal removed from the park. Combined with the market for venison and deerskin, by the 1960s this had proved a lucrative enough business for several hunters to invest in helicopters, the better to travel through this rugged landscape. The deer population plummeted as a result, and competition among hunters grew fierce. Arguments between men in helicopters with high-powered rifles resulted in more than one pitched battle mid-air over the park. The government soon stepped in to prevent such extremes; combined with a growing farm-raised deer industry, helicopter hunting has declined steeply in more recent years. However, its legacy lives on, as dozens of former hunting helicopters these days carry tourists on sight-seeing aerial journeys.

External links

• • [ e] National Parks of New Zealand
North Island	Egmont Te Urewera Tongariro Whanganui
South Island	Abel Tasman Aoraki/Mount Cook Arthur's Pass Fiordland Kahurangi Mount Aspiring Nelson Lakes Paparoa Westland
Stewart Island	Rakiura

IUCN

International Organization
Founded October 1948, Fontainebleau, France
Headquarters Rue Mauverney 28, 1196 Gland, Switzerland

Key people Mr Valli Moosa
Ms Julia Marton-LefÃ¨vre
Industry Natural resource conservation
..... Click the link for more information.

Banff National Park, Alberta, Canada]] A national park is a reserve of land, usually, but not always (see National Parks of England and Wales), declared and owned by a national government, protected from most human development and pollution.
..... Click the link for more information.

Anthem
"God Defend New Zealand"
"God Save the Queen"¹

Capital Wellington

Largest city Auckland
..... Click the link for more information.

Southland (Māori: Murihiku) is the name of New Zealand's southernmost region and is also the name of a district within that region.
..... Click the link for more information.

Te Anau is a town in the South Island of New Zealand. It is on the eastern shore of Lake Te Anau in Fiordland. Lake Te Anau is the largest lake in the South Island and second only within New Zealand to Lake Taupo. The 2001 census recorded the town's population as 1,857.
..... Click the link for more information.

19th century - 20th century - 21st century
1920s 1930s 1940s - 1950s - 1960s 1970s 1980s
1949 1950 1951 - 1952 - 1953 1954 1955

Year 1952 (MCMLII
..... Click the link for more information.

The Department of Conservation (In Māori, Te Papa Atawhai), commonly known by its acronym, "DOC", is the state sector organisation of New Zealand which deals with the conservation of New Zealand’s natural and historic heritage.
..... Click the link for more information.

Fiordland is a geographic region of New Zealand that is situated on the south-western corner of the South Island. Most of it is covered by the Fiordland National Park, which has an area of 12,120 square kilometres, making it the largest national park in New Zealand and one of the
..... Click the link for more information.

South Island<nowiki />

Satellite view of South Island

Geography
<nowiki/>
Location New Zealand <nowiki /> <nowiki /> <nowiki /> <nowiki />
Area
..... Click the link for more information.

Anthem
"God Defend New Zealand"
"God Save the Queen"¹

Capital Wellington

Largest city Auckland
..... Click the link for more information.

State Party New Zealand
Type Natural
Criteria vii, viii, ix, x
Reference 551
Region Asia-Pacific

Inscription History
Inscription 1990 (14th Session)
..... Click the link for more information.

A UNESCO World Heritage Site is a specific site (such as a forest, mountain, lake, desert, monument, building, complex, or city) that has been nominated and confirmed for inclusion on the list maintained by the international World Heritage Programme administered by the UNESCO
..... Click the link for more information.

fjord (or fiord) is a long, narrow estuary with steep sides, made when a glacial valley is filled by rising sea water levels. The seeds of a fjord are laid when a glacier cuts a U-shaped valley through abrasion of the surrounding bedrock by the rocks and sediment it carries.
..... Click the link for more information.

Milford Sound, also known as Piopiotahi in Maori, is located in the south west of New Zealand's South Island. Although called a sound, it is more accurately classified as a fjord.
..... Click the link for more information.

Doubtful Sound is a very large and naturally imposing fjord on the south west corner of New Zealand, close to the smaller but more accessible Milford Sound. It took second place after said Fiord as New Zealand's most famous tourism destination.
..... Click the link for more information.

Dusky Sound is a fjord on the south west corner of New Zealand, in Fiordland National Park.

Geography

One of the most complex of the many fjords on this coast, it is also one of the largest, 40 kilometres in length and eight kilometres wide at its widest point.
..... Click the link for more information.

Southern Alps is a mountain range which runs along the western side of the South Island of New Zealand. It forms a natural dividing range along the entire length of the South Island.
..... Click the link for more information.

Secretary Island is an island in southwestern New Zealand. it lies entirely within Fiordland National Park. Roughly triangular in shape, it lies between Doubtful Sound in the south and Thompson Sound in the north, with its west coast facing the Tasman Sea.
..... Click the link for more information.

Resolution Island is the largest (uninhabited) island in Fiordland, in the southwest of New Zealand. It is the country's fifth largest island. Resolution Island is separated from the mainland of the South Island by Dusky Sound and Breaksea Sound.
..... Click the link for more information.

Location South Island
Coordinates Coordinates:

Primary sources Eglinton River
..... Click the link for more information.

Location South Island, New Zealand
Coordinates Coordinates:

Primary sources
..... Click the link for more information.

Location South Island
Coordinates Coordinates:

..... Click the link for more information.

Location Fiordland National Park
Coordinates Coordinates:

..... Click the link for more information.

Location South Island
Coordinates Coordinates:

..... Click the link for more information.

Sutherland Falls

Location Fiordland, New Zealand,
Type Tiered Plunge
Total height 580m
Number of drops 3

Sutherland Falls
..... Click the link for more information.

A waterfall is usually a geological formation resulting from water, often in the form of a stream, flowing over an erosion-resistant rock formation that forms a sudden break in elevation or nickpoint.
..... Click the link for more information.

Tasman Sea is the large body of water between Australia and New Zealand, some 2000 kilometres (1250 miles) across. It is a south-western segment of the South Pacific Ocean.
..... Click the link for more information.

Temperate rain forests are coniferous or broadleaf forests that occur in the mid-latitudes in areas of high rainfall. Most of these occur in Oceanic-Moist Climates in Western North America (Southeastern Alaska to Central California), Western Europe (Southern Norway to Northern
..... Click the link for more information.

An ecoregion (ecological region), sometimes called a bioregion, is the next smallest ecologically and geographically defined area beneath "realm" or "ecozone". Ecoregions cover relatively large area of land or water, and contain characteristic, geographically distinct
..... Click the link for more information.

This article is copied from an article on Wikipedia.org - the free encyclopedia created and edited by online user community. The text was not checked or edited by anyone on our staff. Although the vast majority of the wikipedia encyclopedia articles provide accurate and timely information please do not assume the accuracy of any particular article. This article is distributed under the terms of GNU Free Documentation License.

EnglishInfo