Tongariro National Park

Tongariro National Park is the oldest National Park in New Zealand. It is located in the central North Island of New Zealand. It has been acknowledged by UNESCO as one of only twenty four mixed cultural and natural World Heritage Sites.

Tongariro National Park was the fourth National Park established in the world. The volcanic mountains Ruapehu, Ngauruhoe, and Tongariro are located in the centre of the park.

There are a number of Maori religious sites within the park. Several of the mountain summits are worshiped as tapu, a word describing a highly sacred site.

Geography

Location

Tongariro National Park covers approximately 795,98 square kilometres stretching between 175° 22' and 175° 48' East and 38° 58' and 39° 25' South in the heart of the North Island of New Zealand. It is 330 kilometres south of Auckland by road, and 320 kilometres north of Wellington. It is just a few kilometers west-southwest of Lake Taupo. It contains a considerable part of the North Island Volcanic Plateau. Directly to the east stand the hills of the Kaimanawa range. The Whanganui River of Whanganui National Park lies to the west.

The three volcanoes: Snow-capped Ruapehu (left), conical Ngauruhoe (centre) and broad-domed Tongariro (right)

Most of the park is located in the Ruapehu District (Manawatu-Wanganui Region), although the northeast belongs to the Taupo District (Waikato Region, or Hawke's Bay Region in the North).

Dimension

Tongariro National Park stretches around the massif of the three volcanoes Mount Ruapehu, Mount Ngauruhoe, and Mount Tongariro. The Pihanga Scenic Reserve, containing Lake Rotopounamu, Mount Pihanga, and Mount Kakaramea, though outside the actual park area, also belongs to the park.

On the park borders are the small towns of National Park Village and Ohakune. Further away are Turangi, Waiouru, and Raetihi. Within the park borders, the only settlements are the tourism-based village of Whakapapa and Iwikau Village, which is in a nearby ski-field and consists solely of ski huts. Tongariro National Park is surrounded by well maintained roads that roughly follow the park borders and provide easy access. In the west, State Highway 4 passes National Park village, and in the east, State Highway 1 from Taupo runs parallel to the Tongariro River. The northern conjunction between these two highways is State Highway 47, also known as the Desert Road. The southern link is State Highway 49. The railway trunk from Auckland to Wellington also passes National Park Village.

Climate

Like the whole of New Zealand, Tongariro National Park is situated in a temperate zone. The prevailing westerly winds gather water over the Tasman Sea. As the volcanoes of Tongariro National Park are the first significant elevations that these winds encounter on the North Island, besides Mount Taranaki, rain falls almost daily. The east-west rainfall differences are not as great as in the Southern Alps, because the three volcanoes do not belong to a greater mountain range, and the wind simply funnels over the summits. In Whakapapa the average annual rainfall is about 2200 millimetres, in Ohakune about 1250 millimetres and in higher altitudes, such as Iwikau Village, about 4900 millimetres. In winter there is snow to about 1500 metres. Temperatures vary dramatically, even within one day. In Whakapapa, they can fall below the freezing point all year round. The average temperature is 13° C, with a maximum of 25° C in summer and a minimum of −10° C in winter. In some summers the summits of the three volcanoes are covered with snow; on top of Mount Ruapehu, snow fields can be found every summer and the summit is glaciated.

History

The mountain summits are of great significance to the local Maori. To prevent exploitation of the mountains by European immigrants, Te Heuheu Tukino IV (Horonuku), the most significant chief of the Maori Ngati Tuwharetoa iwi (or clan), gifted the heart of the current national park, consisting of the peaks of Mount Tongariro, Mount Ngauruhoe, and parts of Mount Ruapehu, to The Crown on September 23, 1887, on condition that a protected area was established there. This 26,40 square kilometre area was generally considered to be too small to establish a national park after the model of Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming (USA), and so further areas were bought. When the New Zealand Parliament passed the Tongariro National Park Act in October 1894, the park covered an area of about 252,13 square kilometres, but it took until 1907 to acquire the land. When the Act was renewed in 1922, the park area was extended to 586,80 square kilometres. Further extensions, especially the affiliation of Pihanga Scenic Reserve in 1975, enlarged the park to its current size of 795,98 square kilometres. The last modification to the Act was passed in 1980. Tongariro National Park has been under the control of the New Zealand Department of Conservation since the creation of the Department in 1987. The first activities in the young Tongariro National Park were the construction of tourist huts at the beginning of the 20th century. But it was not before coverage by railroads around 1910, and the building of roads in the 1930s, that a significant amount of people visited the park. The second Tongariro National Park Act, in 1922, started some active conservation efforts, but it was not until 1931 that the first permanent park ranger began work. Road construction into Whakapapa valley had already begun in the 1920's. The first ski hut was built in 1923 at an elevation of 1770 metres, thereafter a road, and in 1938, a ski lift in the area. This early tourist development explains the rather uncommon existence of a permanently inhabited village and fully developed ski area existing within a national park. The hotel Chateau Tongariro, which is still the centre of Whakapapa today, was erected in 1929.

In the early 20th century, park administrators introduced heather to the park, for grouse hunting. Grouse were never actually introduced, but the heather is sprawling, threatening the ecological system and endemic plants of the park. Efforts are being made to control the plant's spread, however complete eradication seems unlikely. In January 1991, UNESCO declared Tongariro National Park a Natural World Heritage Site. Two years later, it became also a Cultural World Heritage Site, after criteria were changed so that cultural landscapes could achieve that status.

Geology

Three volcanoes, Mount Tongariro, Mount Ngauruhoe, and Mount Ruapehu, are the southern end of a 2500-kilometer long range of volcanoes, below which the Indo-Australian Plate meets the Pacific Plate. All three volcanoes are still active.

Biology

Flora

The Tongariro National Park is a rough and partly unstable environment. To the north and west of the park, a Podocarp-broadleaf rain forest near Lake Taupo stretches over an area of 30 square kilometres, and up to an elevation of 1000 metres. In this rain forest live Hall's Totara (Podocarpus hallii), Kahikatea (Podocarpus dacrydioides), Kamahi (Weinmannia racemosa), Pahautea (Libocedrus bidwillii), and numerous epiphytic ferns, orchids, and fungi. Pahautea trees can be found further on up to a height of 1530 metres, where they cover 127,3 square kilometres. On this level, one can also find a 50 square kilometre beech forest, containing Red (Nothofagus fusca), Silver (Nothofagus menziesii), and Mountain Beech (Nothofagus solandri var cliffortioides). There is also a 95 square kilometre scrubland, containing Kanuka (Leptospermum ericoides), Manuka (Leptospermum scoparium), Celery-top-pine (Phyllocladus aspleniifolius), Inaka (Dracophyllum longifolium), Woolly Fringe Moss(Rhacomitrium lanuginosum), small beeches, and introduced heather. To the northwest, and around Mount Ruapehu, between an altitude of 1200 and 1500 metres, tussock shrubland and tussockland cover large areas (around 150 square kilometres), consisting mainly of New Zealand Red Tussock Grass (Chionochloa rubra), Inaka, Curled Leaved Neinei (Dracophyllum recurvum), Wire Rush (Empodisma minus), and Bog Rush (Schoenus pauciflorus), as well as heather and grasses like Hard Tussock (Festuca novaezelandiae) or Bluegrass (Poa colensoi). Above 1500 metres, the terrain consists of gravel and stone fields and is accordingly unstable. Nevertheless, some plants occasionally settle there, such as Curled Leaved Neinei, Snow Totara (Podocarpus nivalis), Mountain Snowberry (Gaultheria colensoi), Bristle Tussock (Rytidosperma setifolium), Bluegrass, and Raoulia albosericea, which covers an area of 165 square kilometres. Between 1700 and 2020 metres, there are some isolated Parahebe species, Gentiana gellidifolia and Buttercups. Above 2200 metres live only crustose lichens.

Fauna

There are fifty-six significant species of birds, such as rare endemic species like the North Island Brown Kiwi, Kaka, Blue Duck, North Island Fernbird (Bowdleria punctata vealeae) or Double-banded Plover (Charadrius bicinctus), and Karearea. Other birds species common to the park are Tui, New Zealand Bellbird, Southern Boobook, Grey Warbler (Gerygone igata), fantails, and Silvereye. The park also features the only two native mammals of New Zealand, the Short and Long Tailed Bat (Mystacina tuberculata and Chalinolobus tuberculatus). The Tongariro National Park also teems with insects like moths and wetas. Also present in the park, as well as the whole of New Zealand, are animals introduced by Europeans, such as black rats, stoats, cats, rabbits, hare, possums and red deer.

Activities

The main activities are hiking and climbing in summer, and skiing and snowboarding in winter. There is also opportunity for hunting, game fishing, mountain biking, horse riding, rafting, and scenic flights. The most popular track in Tongariro National Park is the Tongariro Crossing. Most of the track is also part of the Tongariro Northern Circuit, a two to four day tour, which is one of New Zealand's nine Great Walks. Side trips to the summits of Mount Tongariro and Mount Ngauruhoe are possible on these tracks. Another route is the three to six day Round the Mountain Track around Mount Ruapehu. Besides these, there are numerous shorter tracks appropriate for day hikes. With this track net, three camp sites, two emergency shelters, nine public and four private huts, and the facilities in Whakapapa, the park is well developed for tourism. These tracks also serve as winter routes, as well as the track to the summit of Mount Ruapehu. Rock-climbing is also an option. Snow season is from the end of July to early November. The biggest ski area, also called Whakapapa, is on the western slope of Mount Ruapehu. It has fifteen lifts, covering an area of 55 square kilometres. Directly next to the ski field are forty-seven ski club huts; most of them will also accommodate non-club members. The next settlement is on the bottom, in Whakapapa. A slightly smaller ski field called Turoa is on the south-western slope. Though it has only nine lifts, the skiing area, with 50 square kilometres, is almost as large as Whakapapa's. There is no accommodation at the ski field; the next town is Ohakune. These two ski fields merged in 2000. Ski passes can be used on both fields, and a lift or run from one field to the other is planned. Beside these major ski fields, there is also the Tukino ski area, privately run by the Desert Alpine Ski Club, and the Aorangi Ski Club on the south-eastern slope. It has two T-bar lifts, and covers 1,9 square kilometres.

See also

• List of national parks of New Zealand

External link

• Official Site (http://www.doc.govt.nz/Explore/001~National-Parks/Tongariro-National-Park/index.asp)
• UNEP World Conservation Monitoring Centre data sheet (http://www.wcmc.org.uk/protected_areas/data/wh/tongarir.html)
• The Open Earth Project (http://www.natureandco.co.nz/land_and_wildlife/national_parks/tongariro/index_tongariro.php3)

de:Tongariro-Nationalpark ja:トンガリロ国立公園