Tongariro National Park

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Cultural landscapes exhibit how humans have been able to use and have adopted the natural resources throughout time. It can be through mining, ranching, agricultural and settlement activities or other traditional cultural practices. One such cultural landscape is the Tongariro national park in New Zealand. The park is found in the central North Island of New Zealand. The park was put up in 1887, and it became the first national park within New Zealand and the fourth one in the world. It is also known as a dual world heritage area, a status that acknowledges the importance of the park’s spiritual associations and Maori culture and also the volcanic mountains in the area. The active volcanic mountains that are located within the center of the park are Ngauruhoe, Ruapehu and Tongariro. There are also some Maori religious sites that are within the park as well as the summits of the Tongariro that include Ruapehu, Ngaruruhoe and tapu. There are also various towns that border this park such as Ohakune, Horopito, Waiouru, Erua, Turangi and so on.

The national park covers about 795.98 square kilometers within the heart of the North Island of New Zealand. It is just a few kilometers to the West-southwest of Lake Taupo. It is approximately 330km to the south of Auckland when using the road and about 320 Km to the north of Wellington. Most of this park is found within the Ruapehu District even though the northeast is within the Taupo district. The park is surrounded by roads that are well-maintained and state highways.

The summits of the mountains are quite significant to the local Maori population. In 1886 so as to prevent selling of the mountains to the European settlers, there was a survey conducted by the local Ngati Tuwharetoa in the Native Land court. These were then set aside as a reserve and named after certain chiefs. Later on, the peaks of the mountain Tongariro, some parts of Mount Ruapehu and Mount Ngauruhoe were all conveyed to the crown. It was done on September 23 1887 under the condition that a protected area was to be established in the area. The 26.4 square kilometers were taken to be too small to set up a national park there, and hence more area was needed. In October 1894, the New Zealand parliament passed the Tongariro National Park Act, the area was extended, and the park now covers an area of 252 square kilometers. In 1992, this act was renewed and saw the extension of the area within the park into 586 square kilometers. Currently, the park covers an area of 795.98 square kilometers after further extensions. The last modification made on this act was in 1980. The National Park is controlled by the New Zealand Department of conservation after this department was created in 1987. The first activities within the young park were building of tourist huts done in the twentieth century. A significant number of people started visiting the park after the building of railway and roads began. Active conservation efforts began after the 1922 second Tongariro National park Act. Permanent park rangers started to work within the Park in 1931. The first hut in the park was built in 1923, and it was elevated to 1770 m and after that a road and a skil lift was also built in the area. At the beginning of the 20th century, there was the introduction of heather to the park by park administrators that were meant for grouse hunting. However, grouse hunting was not introduced formally but this heather is still sprawling and is a threat to the ecosystem and endemic plants that are found within the area. Efforts have been made towards controlling of the spread of this plant, but it is impossible to completely eradicate it. There is also a power scheme built which is meant to preserve and also protect the natural surrounding in all possible ways. The water for this power scheme is gathered from mountains within the central volcanic plateau that passes through Rangipo and also Tokaanu power stations releasing it into Lake Taupo. The environment within the park is rough and partly unstable. The main activities that can be done in the area include climbing and hiking in summer and winter people can snowboard. People can also horse ride, hunt, raft, do biking on mountains, game fish and take scenic flights.

The mountains found in this park are culturally and religiously significant to the Maori people as they are a symbol of spiritual links between the community and the environment they live. It is a place that offers a lot of surprises and hence the place where people can explore and remember.

I have gathered information about this park from different sources. One of the sources is aerial photos of the park. The photos give an aerial view of the landscape and hence makes it possible to see the things found in the park such as the volcanic mountains, surrounding towns, and the flora and fauna. It helped me get a view of the park and visibly identify the features in the park. Secondly I got the information from local newspaper records. I visited the library and in local history rooms I got records on the history of the park. I got detailed information of how the park came into being and the activities that took place during its setting up. I also got information of the different acts that revolved around the setting up of this park. I used the aerial photos to try and see the exact locations of the different features I read about in the newspaper records.