Aotea Conservation Park | |
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![]() Port Fitroy, from Mount Hobson | |
Location | Auckland Region, New Zealand |
Nearest city | Auckland |
Coordinates | 36°11′32″S 175°24′28″E / 36.192284°S 175.407852°E |
Area | 12,300 hectares (30,000 acres) |
Established | 2015 |
Governing body | Department of Conservation |
Aotea Conservation Park is a 12,300 hectare protected area on Great Barrier Island in New Zealand's Hauraki Gulf. It was established in 2015, [1] [2] and comprises 43 percent of the island. [3]
The park includes various habitats including coastal bluffs and freshwater areas. It is home to kauri forest, pohutukawa (Metrosideros excelsa), kanuka ( Kunzea ericoides), Great Barrier tree daisy (Olearia allomii), kaka, brown teal, spotless crake, fernbird, rare frogs, paua slugs and niho taniwha (chevron skink). [4] [5]
It is the largest Department of Conservation park in the Auckland Region, similar in size to the Hunua Regional Park and Waitakere Ranges Regional Park. It is also the largest possum-free forest in New Zealand. [5]
A major storm in June and July 2014 delayed work to establish the park, [5] and survey the area for Kauri dieback. [6]
The park opened the following year in 2015. [1]
The Department of Conservation closed some tracks in the park between 2018 and 2020 due to Kauri dieback. The tracks were upgraded, and reopened in January 2020. [7]
Auckland Council and Ngāti Rehua Ngati Wai ki Aotea surveyed the park for Kauri dieback in November 2020. [6]
In the same month, a report by the Environmental Defence Society concluded the Department of Conservation had a "woeful lack of funding" to manage and protect the park. [8]