Fiordland National Park is a national park in the south-west corner of South Island of New Zealand. It is the largest of the 13 national parks in New Zealand, with an area of . The park occupies almost half of the area of Te Wāhipounamu, a UNESCO World Heritage Site established in 1990, and is administered by the Department of Conservation (DOC). The southern ranges of the Southern Alps cover most of Fiordland National Park, combined with the deep glacier-carved valleys.
The park is a refuge for many threatened native animals, ranging from dolphins and bats to reptiles, insects, and endangered species of birds endemic to New Zealand, such as the takahē, mōhua, kākāpō, and southern brown kiwi.
History Māori history One of the earliest settlers on the South Island was the Waitaha people, who are believed to have settled directly on the South Island from Hawaiki on the Uruao canoe. Later migrations of Kāti Māmoe came from the North Island. Similarly, Ngāi Tahu later migrated from the North Island and joined the Kāti Māmoe iwi. The Māori history of Fiordland can be traced back more than 600 years with the creation of Ngāi Tahu. Its fiords, which are waterways, were intended to provide havens along its rugged coastline, which was rich in forests and birds to sustain travellers. Fiordland offered many other resources to maintain groups on their expeditions, such as kākāpō and shellfish.
In Māori mythology, the fiords are created by the craft of Tū Te Rakiwhanoa, who carved indentations into the coastline to make it habitable. But habitation in Fiordland has always been thin, although Māori made seasonal visits here to fish, hunt, and collect greenstone from Milford Sound. Tribal groups found sanctuary here, living amid the penguins and seals. In Māori mythology, a legend named Hine-nui-te-pō created sandflies to keep people from becoming idle in Fiordland to protect people from its "beauty".
European history Captain James Cook, a British explorer, circumnavigated the South Island with his crew of HMS Endeavour in March 1770. They advanced towards the southwest Fiordland but sailed away since it was late. Although they did not enter Dusky Sound on their first voyage to New Zealand, Cook noted the presence of a promising harbour here, and gave it the name "Dusky Bay". They managed to shelter at Dusky Sound during their second voyage aboard HMS Resolution, and Cook met some Māori families while they were sheltered here. Andreas Reischek, an Austrian naturalist, explored Fiordland in the late 1880s. His collection of bird skins from the area was destroyed after being waterlogged as a result of inadequate stowage aboard the Stella. Despite his contributions to the study of New Zealand natural history, Reischek is remembered for his theft of taonga from Māori hosts.
of Fiordland were set aside as a national reserve in 1904, following suggestions by then-future Prime Minister Thomas Mackenzie and Southland Commissioner of Crown Lands, John Hay, that the region should be declared a national park.
The area had already become a destination for trampers, following the opening up of the Milford Track from Lake Te Anau to Milford Sound in 1889 by New Zealand explorers Quintin McKinnon and Donald Sutherland, which received significant publicity from a 1908 article in the London Spectator describing it as the "Finest Walk in the World".
The Fiordland "public reserve" was created as a park administered by the Department of Lands and Survey, in practical terms, similar to a National Park. The only two officially named "national parks" in New Zealand at the time, Tongariro National Park and Egmont National Park, were administered by park boards. Consolidation of park management led to the National Parks Act of 1952, which brought Fiordland National Park into the fold, formally making it the third National Park in New Zealand. Fiordland National Park's establishment in the early 1950s occurred at the same time with the opening of the Homer Tunnel for public use, which provided road access to Milford Sound.
Geography
During the cooler past, glaciers carved many deep fiords, the most famous (and most visited) of which is Milford Sound / Piopiotahi. Other notable fiords include Doubtful Sound / Patea and Tamatea / Dusky Sound. The retreat of the glaciers after the ice age left behind U-shaped valleys with sheer cliffs, and as a result, Fiordland's coast is steep and crenellated, with some of the 15 fiords reaching as far as inland.
The southern ranges of the Southern Alps cover most of Fiordland National Park and, combined with the deep glacier-carved valleys, present a highly inaccessible landscape. At the northern end of the park, the Darran Mountains contain several peaks rising to over , with views of Mount Aspiring / Tititea to the north in the neighbouring Mount Aspiring National Park.New Zealand Department of Tourism and Publicity. 1906. New Zealand Lakes and Fiords, the Wonders of Western Otago: Descriptive of the Southern Lakes and Mountains, the West Coast Sounds and Stewart Island, published by J.Mackay Further south, the Franklin Mountains, Stuart Mountains, and Murchison Mountains reach around , with the peaks diminishing in height from north to south. The Kepler, Dingwall, Kaherekoau, Princess, and Cameron Mountains further south only reach .
The glacial carving has cut off islands from the mainland, leaving two large uninhabited offshore islands, Secretary Island and Resolution Island, as well as many smaller ones. Although these glaciers are long-gone, a few small glaciers and permanent snow fields remain, with the southernmost glacier situated below Caroline Peak.
Several large lakes lie wholly or partly within the park's boundaries, notably Lake Te Anau and Lake Manapouri, both on the western boundary of the national park, as well as the southern lakes Lake Monowai, Lake Hauroko, and Lake Poteriteri. All of these lakes exhibit the topography typical of glacier-carved valleys, with Lake Te Anau and Lake Manapouri in particular having several arms that are similar in appearance to the fiords on the west coast of the park.
The Sutherland Falls, to the southwest of the Sound on the Milford Track, are among the world's highest waterfalls. Other tall waterfalls in the park include Browne Falls, Humboldt Falls, Lady Alice Falls, and Bowen Falls, as well as countless temporary waterfalls in the fiords that come to life after rainfall.
Climate 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 rainforests of the Fiordland temperate forests ecoregion.
Ecology Flora Fiordland National Park contains the largest area of unmodified vegetation in New Zealand. The dense forests, often clinging to steep valley sides, comprise mostly silver beech and mountain beech, but also podocarps. A large variety of shrubs and ferns, often dominated by crown fern, make up a rich understory of plants, with the forest floor covered in mosses and liverworts. The abundant vegetation is supported by the high rainfall, but continues to be damaged by introduced species such as red deer and possum.
Fauna The park is also a significant refuge for many threatened native animals, including dolphins, bats, reptiles, insects, and birds. Among the birds are several endangered species endemic to New Zealand, such as the takahē, mōhua (Yellowhead), and the critically endangered kākāpō, the only flightless parrot in the world. The vulnerable Fiordland crested penguin and southern brown kiwi are also almost exclusively found within the park.
The special nature of the Fiordland area for conservation was recognised in the late 1890s by Richard Henry, pioneering the transfer of threatened species such as kākāpō and kiwi to islands in Dusky Sound. Conservation work and management of endangered species continues via many programmes by the Department of Conservation. The Takahē Recovery Programme ensures the survival of the last wild population of takahē. This unique bird, the largest living member of the rail family, was once thought to be extinct. After the rediscovery of the takahē in the Murchison Mountains in 1948, a special area of was set aside in Fiordland National Park for its conservation, and the population reached 300 birds in 2016. Although the National Park comprises 15% of New Zealand's conservation estate, it receives less than 1% of the Department of Conservation's pest-control budget.
Several offshore islands belonging to Fiordland National Park are dedicated sanctuaries for threatened native species:
Anchor Island - kākāpō, little spotted kiwi, tīeke (saddleback), mōhua Bauza Island - tīeke Breaksea Island - tīeke, mōhua, knobbled weevil, Fiordland skink Chalky Island - Te Kakahu skink, tīeke, mōhua, kākāpō, little spotted kiwi, orange-fronted kākāriki Coal Island - tokoeka (Haast brown kiwi), mōhua Indian Island Passage Islands Resolution Island - New Zealand rock wren, mōhua, tīeke, knobbled weevil Secretary Island - Fiordland crested penguin, kiwi/tokoeka, rock wren, kōkako, takahē, mōhua, endemic mistletoe species
Mōhua and tokoeka (Haast brown kiwi) have also been released on Pomona Island in Lake Te Anau, and the Eglinton Valley contains significant populations of long-tailed bats.
In addition to these sanctuaries, there are also three sizeable possum-free islands in the fiords of the national park: Cooper Island and Long Island in Dusky Sound / Tamatea, and Great Island in Taiari / Chalky Inlet. However, these islands are still occupied by stoats, rats, or mice, compromising their suitability as bird sanctuaries.
Conservation and human interaction
Fiordland became the scene of one of New Zealand's most significant conservation debates when, in the 1960s, it was proposed to raise the level of Lake Manapouri to assist hydro-electricity production at West Arm. The ensuing battle resulted in the government ultimately bowing to the weight of petitions and passing a bill in the 1970s that gave the lake statutory protection.
In 1986, Fiordland National Park was individually recognised as a World Heritage Site, and in 1990, together with three other national parks to the north, as part of the Te Wāhipounamu World Heritage Area.
The park's protected area includes all of the islands along its coast, as well as the remote Solander Islands. Although the park's seaward boundary is at the mean high-water mark, 10 adjoining marine reserves protect large areas of water in several fiords. The most recent expansion of Fiordland National Park was the 1999 addition of the Waitutu Forest. Possible future additions are Big Bay, parts of the Livingston/Eglinton Ranges, and the Dean/Rowallan catchment area.
Access
Main road access into Fiordland National Park is limited to the Milford Road (SH 94), which runs north from Te Anau, skirting the edge of the park before entering the park as the highway joins the valley of the Eglinton River just north of Te Anau Downs. From there, the road continues to the northwest corner of the park, passing through the Hollyford Valley and then through the Homer Tunnel on the descent to the terminus of the road at Milford Sound / Piopiotahi, where there is a large car park, a wharf for the tour boats, and a visitor centre.
A handful of other roads provide access to various entry points into the national park:
An unsealed side road in the upper Hollyford Valley leads to the start of the Hollyford Track. runs close to the park's boundary between Te Anau and Manapouri, with minor side roads to two entry points along the Kepler loop track, A narrow winding gravel road runs along the Borland and the Grebe Valley, providing access to three tramping tracks and to a campsite at Lake Manapouri's South Arm,