Te Urewera National Park was a

national park A national park is a nature park, natural park in use for conservation (ethic), conservation purposes, created and protected by national governments. Often it is a reserve of natural, semi-natural, or developed land that a sovereign state dec ...

near the east coast of

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

North Island The North Island, also officially named Te Ika-a-Māui, is one of the two main islands of New Zealand, separated from the larger but much less populous South Island by the Cook Strait. The island's area is , making it the world's 14th-largest ...

, established as such in 1954 and disestablished in 2014, when it was replaced by a new legal entity and

protected area Protected areas or conservation areas are locations which receive protection because of their recognized natural, ecological or cultural values. There are several kinds of protected areas, which vary by level of protection depending on the ena ...

named ''

Te Urewera Te Urewera is an area of mostly forested, sparsely populated rugged hill country in the North Island of New Zealand, a large part of which is within a protected area designated in 2014, that was formerly Te Urewera National Park. Te Urewera is ...

''. The park covered an area of approximately 2,127 km² and was located was in the north of the

Hawke's Bay Hawke's Bay ( mi, Te Matau-a-Māui) is a local government region on the east coast of New Zealand's North Island. The region's name derives from Hawke Bay, which was named by Captain James Cook in honour of Admiral Edward Hawke. The region is ...

region of the

. It was the largest of four national parks in the North Island and the most isolated rainforest in the region.

History

Due to its geographical isolation, the region was one of the last to be claimed by the British during colonisation in the 19th century. On 28 July 1954, the catchment areas of

Lake Waikaremoana Lake Waikaremoana is located in Te Urewera in the North Island of New Zealand, 60 kilometres northwest of Wairoa and 80 kilometres west-southwest of Gisborne. It covers an area of . From the Maori Waikaremoana translates as 'sea of rippling wat ...

Lake Waikareiti Lake Waikareiti, also spelt Lake Waikare Iti, is located in Te Urewera National Park in the North Island of New Zealand. A number of hiking trails are found within the catchment basin of the lake. Its formation followed a landslide 18,000 years a ...

and other Crown reserves were gazetted as a national park, and by 1957 proposals were well underway to add the rest of the Crown land in Te Urewera north of

Ruatāhuna Ruatāhuna is a small town in the remote country of Te Urewera, in the northeast of New Zealand's North Island. It is 90 kilometres directly west of Gisborne, and 18 kilometres northwest of Lake Waikaremoana. By road, it is 50 kilometres south-e ...

. This proposal was formalised in November 1957, when an additional 1,350 km² were added. Further additions were made in 1962, 1975, and 1979, with smaller acquisitions of land and boundary alterations in the intervening period. The lake bed and

Māori Māori or Maori can refer to: Relating to the Māori people * Māori people of New Zealand, or members of that group * Māori language, the language of the Māori people of New Zealand * Māori culture * Cook Islanders, the Māori people of the C ...

enclaves were not included in the gazetting of the park. The

Crown A crown is a traditional form of head adornment, or hat, worn by monarchs as a symbol of their power and dignity. A crown is often, by extension, a symbol of the monarch's government or items endorsed by it. The word itself is used, partic ...

had leased the lake bed, which was managed by the

Department of Conservation An environmental ministry is a national or subnational government agency politically responsible for the environment and/or natural resources. Various other names are commonly used to identify such agencies, such as Ministry of the Environment ...

. In March 2013, the Tūhoe people signed a deed of settlement, settling the tribe's claims under the

Waitangi Tribunal The Waitangi Tribunal (Māori: ''Te Rōpū Whakamana i te Tiriti o Waitangi'') is a New Zealand permanent commission of inquiry established under the Treaty of Waitangi Act 1975. It is charged with investigating and making recommendations on cla ...

. Under the deal, the Tūhoe were to receive NZ$170 million and also be given more control over Te Urewera. It ceased to be a national park under the Te Urewera Act 2014, becoming

, the first natural resource in the world to be awarded the same legal rights as a person.

Name

Te Urewera is the traditional home of the Tūhoe people. The name means “burnt penis” in the

Māori language Māori (), or ('the Māori language'), also known as ('the language'), is an Eastern Polynesian language spoken by the Māori people, the indigenous population of mainland New Zealand. Closely related to Cook Islands Māori, Tuamotuan, and ...

and reflects a local legend.Te Urewera
thousandwonders.net, accessed 27 May 2022

References

External links

Te Urewera
Department of Conservation

* ttp://www.nzonscreen.com/title/journeys-in-national-parks-te-urewera-1987 Journeys in National Parks: Te Urewera 1987 documentary at NZ On Screen
Tourism information page
{{Authority control Protected areas established in 1954 Protected areas disestablished in 2014 Nature reserves in New Zealand Wildlife sanctuaries of New Zealand Protected areas of the Hawke's Bay Region Former national parks Whakatane District Ōpōtiki District Gisborne District Wairoa District

History

Name

See also

References

External links