page_title: Protected areas of New Zealand
section_title: Types of protected areas
hierarchical_section_title: Protected areas of New Zealand / Types of protected areas
caption_attribution_description: English: Mt. Cook/Aoraki. Tramping/hiking in Aoraki Mount Cook National Park. This is at Sealy Tarns on the track up to Mueller Hut. Mt. Cook/Aoraki is in the background., Aoraki Mount Cook National Park.
context_page_description: Protected areas of New Zealand receive protection to preserve their environmental, historical or cultural value. The method and aims of protection vary according to the importance of the resource and whether it has public or private status. Nearly 30 percent of the land mass of New Zealand is in public ownership and has some degree of protection; these areas include conservation parks, mainland islands, island reserves, marine reserves, and national parks.
context_section_description: The Department of Conservation administers the majority of the publicly owned land in New Zealand that is protected for scenic, scientific, historic and cultural reasons, or set aside for recreational purposes. More than 80,000 km² – nearly 30 percent of the nation's total area – is administered by the department. The main legislation controlling this is the Reserves Act 1977.
  There are 13 national parks (excluding the disestablished Te Urewera National Park), covering almost 28,900 km², over 50 Conservation Parks covering some 18,000 km², about 3,500 reserves covering around 15,000 km², and some 610 km² of protected private land and covenants that have been set aside for scenic, scientific or ecological reasons. The department also has responsibility for the preservation and management of wildlife, and has a role in management of the coastal marine area with 19 marine reserves and two other protected marine areas from the Kermadec Islands to Fiordland.
  Any development in Coastal Marine Areas, which extend up to the mean high water spring mark and up to a kilometre up rivers, require a Resource Consent under the Resource Management Act (RMA).
caption: Aoraki / Mount Cook National Park
exif: {"Image Make": "EASTMAN KODAK COMPANY", "Image Model": "KODAK EASYSHARE C533 ZOOM DIGITAL CAMERA", "Image Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Image XResolution": "230", "Image YResolution": "230", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image YCbCrPositioning": "Co-sited", "Image ExifOffset": "190", "Thumbnail Compression": "JPEG (old-style)", "Thumbnail Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Thumbnail XResolution": "72", "Thumbnail YResolution": "72", "Thumbnail ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormat": "5368", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormatLength": "5722", "EXIF ExposureTime": "1/350", "EXIF FNumber": "24/5", "EXIF ExposureProgram": "Program Normal", "EXIF ISOSpeedRatings": "80", "EXIF ExifVersion": "0221", "EXIF DateTimeOriginal": "2007:04:19 13:35:40", "EXIF DateTimeDigitized": "2007:04:19 13:35:40", "EXIF ComponentsConfiguration": "YCbCr", "EXIF ShutterSpeedValue": "17/2", "EXIF ApertureValue": "9/2", "EXIF ExposureBiasValue": "0", "EXIF MaxApertureValue": "29/10", "EXIF MeteringMode": "CenterWeightedAverage", "EXIF LightSource": "Unknown", "EXIF Flash": "Flash did not fire, compulsory flash mode", "EXIF FocalLength": "6", "EXIF FlashPixVersion": "0100", "EXIF ColorSpace": "sRGB", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "2576", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "1932", "Interoperability InteroperabilityIndex": "R98", "Interoperability InteroperabilityVersion": "[48, 49, 48, 48]", "EXIF InteroperabilityOffset": "5232", "EXIF ExposureIndex": "80", "EXIF SensingMethod": "One-chip color area", "EXIF FileSource": "Digital Camera", "EXIF SceneType": "Directly Photographed", "EXIF CustomRendered": "Normal", "EXIF ExposureMode": "Auto Exposure", "EXIF WhiteBalance": "Auto", "EXIF DigitalZoomRatio": "0", "EXIF FocalLengthIn35mmFilm": "37", "EXIF SceneCaptureType": "Landscape", "EXIF GainControl": "None", "EXIF Contrast": "Normal", "EXIF Saturation": "Normal", "EXIF Sharpness": "Normal", "EXIF SubjectDistanceRange": "0"}