Whakanewha Regional Park is a regional park situated on Waiheke Island in New Zealand's Hauraki Gulf. It is owned and operated by

Auckland Council Auckland Council ( mi, Te Kaunihera o Tāmaki Makaurau) is the local government council for the Auckland Region in New Zealand. It is a territorial authority that has the responsibilities, duties and powers of a regional council and so is ...

Geography

Whakanewha is located in central Waiheke Island, on the southern coast. The regional park extends from the ridge line towards Rocky Bay / Whakanewha Bay, and includes the catchments of three streams which flow into the bay. The forest is dominated by broadleaf trees including

taraire ''Taraire'' is a small genus of Polynesian long-jawed orb-weavers. The genus was first described by A. Álvarez-Padilla, R. J. Kallal and Gustavo Hormiga in 2020, and it has only been found in New Zealand. They build vertical orb webs near fore ...

and pūriri, and podocarp trees such as kahikatea and

tānekaha ''Phyllocladus trichomanoides'', the tānekaha or celery pine, is a coniferous tree endemic to New Zealand. Description Tānekaha is a medium-sized forest tree growing up to 25 m in height and 1 m trunk diameter. The main structural shoots ar ...

. A large wetland is found in the south-west of the park, which is a habitat for species including the New Zealand bittern,

banded rail The buff-banded rail (''Hypotaenidia philippensis'') is a distinctively coloured, highly dispersive, medium-sized rail of the rail family, Rallidae. This species comprises several subspecies found throughout much of Australasia and the south- ...

and fernbird.

History

Whakanewha has a long history of Tāmaki Māori occupation. Large shell middens are located here, as well as a

pā The word pā (; often spelled pa in English) can refer to any Māori village or defensive settlement, but often refers to hillforts – fortified settlements with palisades and defensive terraces – and also to fortified villages. Pā sites o ...

site. The name translates to "shading eyes from the setting sun". Groups with association to the area include

Ngāti Pāoa Ngāti Pāoa is a Māori ''iwi'' (tribe) that has extensive links to the Hauraki and Waikato tribes of New Zealand. Its traditional lands stretch from the western side of the Hauraki Plains to Auckland. They also settled on Hauraki Gulf islands s ...

, Ngāi Tai ki Tāmaki and Te Ākitai Waiohua. During the 1850s, members of

grew large quantities of fruit and vegetables to supply the city of Auckland on eastern Waiheke Island, including at Whakanewha. Around the year 1855, Samuel Wood purchased part of Whakanewha. The Māori residents of the area had not been consulted and disputed the claim, burning down Wood's house in retaliation. The Crown confirmed Wood's title to his land in 1858, and Wood sold the land soon afterwards. Afterwards, the O'Brien family lived on the land, developing the area as a sheep farm. In 1994, Whakanewha was purchased in order to be redeveloped into a regional park. The park was formally opened in February 2007. Much of the land is made up of regenerating

mānuka ''Leptospermum scoparium'', commonly called mānuka, () mānuka myrtle, New Zealand teatree, broom tea-tree, or just tea tree, is a species of flowering plant in the myrtle family Myrtaceae, native to New Zealand (including the Chatham Islands ...

and

kānuka ''Kunzea ericoides'', commonly known as kānuka, kanuka, white tea-tree or burgan, is a tree or shrub in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae and is endemic to New Zealand. It has white or pink flowers similar to those of ''Leptospermum'' and from i ...

shrubland, which is replacing the former farmland of the area. Many native tree species in the park have thrived more successfully than their counterparts on the mainland, due to the lack of possums on Waiheke Island. In the 1990s, the cascade stream and poukaraka wetland were home to the

Giant kōkopu The giant kōkopu (''Galaxias argenteus'') is a threatened species of ray-finned fish in the genus ''Galaxias'', found only in New Zealand. It can reach up to in length and in weight, making it the largest species in the family Galaxiidae. It i ...

, however due to issues with stream sedimentation from an unsealed road upstream of the park, the habitat has significantly degraded.

are considering options for reintroducing the species to the area.

References

{{Protected areas of New Zealand Waiheke Island Regional parks of the Auckland Region Tourist attractions in the Auckland Region