Chatham IslandChatham Island ( CHAT-əm) (Moriori: Rēkohu, lit. 'Misty Sun'; Māori: Wharekauri) is the largest island of the Chatham Islands group, in the south Pacific Ocean off the eastern coast of New Zealand's South Island. It is said to be "halfway between the equator and the pole, and right on the International Date Line", although that point is 173 miles WSW of the island's westernmost point. The Moriori are the first settlers of the Chatham Islands.
Pitt IslandPitt Island (Moriori: Rangihaute, Māori: Rangiauria) is the second largest island in New Zealand's Chatham Islands, with an area of 65 square kilometres (25 sq mi). It lies about 770 kilometres (480 mi) to the east of New Zealand's main islands, and about 20 kilometres (12 mi) to the southeast of Chatham Island, from which it is separated by Pitt Strait. The island is hilly; its highest point (Waihere Head) rises to 241 metres (791 ft) above sea level.
South IslandThe South Island (official alternative name Te Waipounamu, from Māori) is the larger of the two main islands of New Zealand by surface area, the other being the smaller but more populous North Island. With a population of 1,256,700 as of June 2025, the South Island is home to 24% of New Zealand's 5.3 million inhabitants. The most populous cities are Christchurch, Dunedin, Nelson and Invercargill.
Conservation in New ZealandNature conservation in New Zealand has a history associated with both Māori and Europeans. Both groups of people caused a loss of species and both altered their behaviour to a degree after realising their effect on indigenous flora and fauna. Protected areasNew Zealand has thirteen national parks, forty-four marine reserves and many other protected areas for the conservation of biodiversity.
New ZealandNew Zealand is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It comprises two main landmasses—the North Island (Te Ika-a-Māui) and the South Island (Te Waipounamu)—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island country by area and lies east of Australia across the Tasman Sea and south of the islands of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga.
Forty-FoursThe Forty-Fours are a group of islands in the Chatham Archipelago, about 50 kilometres (31 mi) east of the main Chatham Island. They are called Motchuhar in Moriori and Motuhara in Māori. The group includes the easternmost point of New Zealand, whose South Island is located about 800 kilometres (497 mi) to the west. Scientists on the visited the islands recording prolific bird life including albatrosses and mollymawks.Moriori languageMoriori, or ta rē Moriori ('the Moriori language'), is a Polynesian language most closely related to New Zealand Māori. It is spoken by the Moriori, the indigenous people of New Zealand's Chatham Islands (Rēkohu in Moriori), an archipelago located east of the South Island. Moriori went extinct as a first language at the turn of the 20th century, but revitalisation attempts are ongoing.
Protected areas of New ZealandWest Matukituki Valley and the Matukituki River seen from Cascade Saddle in Mount Aspiring National Park.Protected areas of New Zealand are areas that are in some way protected to preserve their environmental, scientific, scenic, historical, cultural or recreational value. There are about 10,000 protected areas, covering about a third of the country.
ArchipelagoAn archipelago ( ), sometimes called an island group or island chain, is a chain, cluster, or collection of islands. An archipelago may be in an ocean, a sea, or a smaller body of water. The largest archipelago country in the world is Indonesia, whose territory comprises most of the Indonesian Archipelago.
Māori languagePolynesian language spoken in New ZealandMāori (Māori:; endonym: te reo Māori, 'the Māori language', also shortened to te reo) is an Eastern Polynesian language and the language of the Māori people, the indigenous population of mainland New Zealand. The southernmost member of the Austronesian language family, it is related to Cook Islands Māori, Moriori, Tuamotuan, and Tahitian.
Pacific OceanLargest ocean on EarthThe Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It stretches from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean, or, depending on the definition, to Antarctica in the south, and is bounded by the continents of Asia and Australia in the west and the Americas in the east.Clearing (geography)The clearing of woods and forests is the process by which native vegetation, such as trees and shrubs, together with their roots are permanently removed. The main aim of this process is to clear areas of forest, woodland or scrub in order to develop the area for another purpose, such as pasture, arable farming, human settlement or the construction of roads or railways.*As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.