Resolution Island or Tau Moana ( Māori) is the largest island in the

Fiordland Fiordland (, "The Pit of Tattooing", and also translated as "the Shadowlands"), is a non-administrative geographical region of New Zealand in the south-western corner of the South Island, comprising the western third of Southland. Most of F ...

region of southwest

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

, covering a total of . It is the country's seventh largest island, and the second largest uninhabited island. Resolution Island is separated from the mainland of the

South Island The South Island ( , 'the waters of Pounamu, Greenstone') is the largest of the three major islands of New Zealand by surface area, the others being the smaller but more populous North Island and Stewart Island. It is bordered to the north by ...

by Tamatea / Dusky Sound, Te Puaitaha / Breaksea Sound, and Acheron Passage. The island is part of the

Fiordland National Park 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 of New Zealand, national parks in New Zealand, with an area covering , and a major part of the Te W� ...

. The island is roughly rectangular, with the exception of a long narrow peninsula on the west coast known as Five Fingers Peninsula: an area protected by the Taumoana (Five Fingers Peninsula) Marine Reserve. The island is named after Captain

James Cook Captain (Royal Navy), Captain James Cook (7 November 1728 – 14 February 1779) was a British Royal Navy officer, explorer, and cartographer famous for his three voyages of exploration to the Pacific and Southern Oceans, conducted between 176 ...

's ship ''Resolution'' which landed here on Dusky Sound during Cook's Second Voyage in March 1773. The island was chosen in 2004 to be one of New Zealand's offshore reserves, which are cleared of

introduced species An introduced species, alien species, exotic species, adventive species, immigrant species, foreign species, non-indigenous species, or non-native species is a species living outside its native distributional range, but which has arrived ther ...

to protect native species. This follows a much earlier episode, in 1894, when the Department of Lands and Survey appointed Richard Henry as curator of the island, which was stocked with species such as

kākāpō The kākāpō (; : ; ''Strigops habroptilus''), sometimes known as the owl parrot or owl-faced parrot, is a species of large, nocturnal, ground-dwelling parrot of the superfamily Strigopoidea. It is endemic to New Zealand. Kākāpō can be u ...

and kiwi that were threatened by

mustelid The Mustelidae (; from Latin , weasel) are a diverse family of carnivoran mammals, including weasels, badgers, otters, polecats, martens, grisons, and wolverines. Otherwise known as mustelids (), they form the largest family in the suborde ...

s on the mainland. This early attempt at using the island for conservation management failed when

stoat The stoat (''Mustela erminea''), also known as the Eurasian ermine or ermine, is a species of mustelid native to Eurasia and the northern regions of North America. Because of its wide circumpolar distribution, it is listed as Least Concern on th ...

s reached the island in 1900. On 15 July 2009, Resolution island was at the

epicentre The epicenter (), epicentre, or epicentrum in seismology is the point on the Earth's surface directly above a hypocenter or focus, the point where an earthquake or an underground explosion originates. Determination The primary purpose of a s ...

of a magnitude 7.8 earthquake.

Flora

The island is an important sanctuary, not only because it has never been colonised by

possums Possum may refer to: Animals * Didelphimorphia, or (o)possums, an order of marsupials native to the Americas ** Didelphis, a genus of marsupials within Didelphimorphia *** Common opossum, native to Central and South America *** Virginia opossum, ...

, but also because it contains much ecological diversity in habitats ranging from wetlands to forests to alpine areas, with the highest mountains on the island reaching around 1,000 m. The most widespread forest type on the island is beech-broadleaved forest, while the alpine areas comprise mainly tussock, but also wetlands and tarns. Over 400 indigenous species have been recorded on the island, which is considerably more than on the surrounding mainland. Among the plants are six endangered species, such as several types of endemic

mistletoe Mistletoe is the common name for obligate parasite, obligate parasitic plant, hemiparasitic plants in the Order (biology), order Santalales. They are attached to their host tree or shrub by a structure called the haustorium, through which they ...

, and over a dozen nationally uncommon species. Many of these plants suffer elsewhere in Fiordland from browsing by possums.

Fauna

The only introduced mammals on the island are stoats, red deer and mice. Ongoing stoat and rat contro
since 2008
allows the island to be used as a sanctuary. Pest trapping is being used on the island by laying trap networks including various DOC traps, and Goodnaturebr>A24 traps
to aid in bringing the pest populations down to improve the environment for threatened bird species such as the mōhua (yellowhead) and tīeke (saddleback). Many other native bird species can be found on the island, including karearea (New Zealand falcon), kaka,

kea The kea ( ; ; ''Nestor notabilis'') is a species of large parrot in the Family (biology), family Strigopidae that is endemic to the forested and alpine regions of the South Island of New Zealand. About long, it is mostly olive-green, with br ...

, and kiwi.

References

External links

New Zealand to create more island sanctuaries
BirdLife International

Wildlifeextra.com
1998 archaeological investigation of a 1795 ship and temporary dwellings at Facile Harbour
{{Authority control Uninhabited islands of New Zealand Islands of Fiordland Fiordland National Park Island restoration

Flora

Fauna

See also

References

Further reading

External links