National Parks System of Australia and New Zealand

Site Information

Official Name: Director of National Parks, Australian Government; Department of Conservation, New Zealand Government

Location: Over five hundred protected areas in Australia; thirteen national parks in New Zealand

Type: Natural

Description

National parks are regions set aside to preserve wilderness, special ecosystems or beautiful landscapes for the enjoyment and benefit of the public. They are typically maintained as close to their natural state as possible. They are protected from major alterations to the land, for example, by farming, mining or forest-felling. Typically, economic activity on them is forbidden or restricted to only those activities that have the least impact—tourism and often hunting or traditional indigenous uses.

History

The world's first national park was Yellowstone National Park, established in the United States in 1872. Australia established the world's second national park, Royal National Park, in 1879. In 1887 New Zealand created the Tongariro National Park, the world's fourth. Originally named the National Park when it was established in 1879, Royal National Park gained its current name following Queen Elizabeth II's visit to Australia in 1954.

Over the eighteenth, nineteenth and twentieth centuries, industrialisation and urbanisation created unhealthy and unsightly industrial cities which, more than ever before, removed people from the environment. In the late eighteenth century, literary and political movements, like romanticism, sought to restore a connection to nature. Before the ecological concerns of the twentieth century, the romantic ideal was a major influence in the creation of parks—the Museum of Australia notes its effect on the creation of Australia's first national park.

While in the twenty-first century, national parks are typically maintained in as close to a pristine state as possible, the 1879 park was designed to provide an escape from the pressures of urban life, and was constructed with artificially "natural" environments. Mangroves and mudflats were drained and converted to grasslands, and European species of flora and fauna were introduced—foxes, deer, rabbits and various plants. These habitats have since been restored.

In 1891 South Australia created the Belair National Park, and Victoria and Western Australia followed suit in 1898 with the Promontory and John Forrest National Parks. By 1916 each Australian state had a national park.

In New Zealand, the Ngāti Tūwharetoa tribe gifted three great mountains to the government in 1887. The land ownership was contested by several tribes, and the Crown had been conquering, purchasing and appropriating land in the region for several decades. Chief Horonuku sought to protect the land from sale, conquest or confiscation by giving them to the Crown on condition that it not be resold and that it be preserved from exploitation. The Crown purchased more land for the park over the next two decades and confirmed it officially in 1907. In 1904 New Zealand established its largest national park, the Fiordland National Park, covering the rugged mountains and deep fiords of the far south-west of the South Island.

Significance

Today Australia has over five hundred national parks, of which more than 225 are in New South Wales and a similar number in Queensland. The Australian Government has set aside over 280,000 square kilometres of land as national parks, almost 4 per cent of its land area. A further 6 per cent is protected as various state forests, conservation reserves and nature parks. They cover all kinds of different ecologies and locations throughout the country.

Australia also has extensive networks of marine national parks. The most famous is the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park, which covers most of Queensland's coastline, and the largest is the Coral Sea National Park, which stretches far beyond the Great Barrier Reef.

The Director of National Parks office in the Department of the Environment and Energy administers Australia's national parks, including marine reserves. It is charged, under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999, to actively protect the environment, particularly sites or problems of significance for the preservation of nature and preserve the biodiversity of Australian wildlife. To that end, it must establish and follow a streamlined process for assessing the state of environmental sites and approving sites for protection; increase or improve the protection and maintenance of sites of natural or cultural significance; control the movement of wildlife internationally; and promote land development that is ecologically sustainable, and that also promotes conservation and sustainable use of natural resources. Finally, the government must recognise and facilitate the role of Indigenous people in the preservation of nature and their knowledge of its biodiversity.

New Zealand has thirteen national parks covering a total area of 30,669 square kilometres, more than 11 per cent of its land area. Together with other protected areas, nearly 30 per cent of the country's land area is protected. Early national parks were almost exclusively mountainous, but following the passage of the National Parks Act 1980, emphasis was placed on creating reserves reflecting the full diversity of the New Zealand environment.

New Zealand also has a network of marine parks around the whole coast. New Zealand also boasts several reserves far from its mainland: the Bounty Islands, Auckland Islands, Campbell Island and Antipodes Island in the far south of the Pacific; and the Kermadec Islands almost 1,000 kilometres to the north of the mainland.

New Zealand's national parks are administered by the Department of Conservation, under the National Parks Act 1980 and the Conservation Act 1987. The 1980 act requires that they shall be maintained in their natural state, or as close to it as possible, and the native flora and fauna of the parks shall as far as possible be preserved and the non-native plants and animals shall be removed. Furthermore, archaeologically and historically important sites and landmarks shall be preserved; the value of the parks' natural resources, such as water, forest and soil, shall be maintained and conserved; and finally, these sites will be open to the public.

Bibliography

"About the Royal NP." Royal National Park Environmental Education Centre, NSW Government, www.royalnatpk-e.schools.nsw.edu.au/royal-national-park-eec/about-the-royal. Accessed 11 June 2024.

"First National Park." National Museum Australia, www.nma.gov.au/defining-moments/resources/first-national-park#. Accessed 11 June 2024.

"First Step in Creation of Fiordland National Park." NZ History, Ministry for Culture and Heritage, New Zealand Government, 1 Feb. 2017, nzhistory.govt.nz/first-step-in-creation-of-fiordland-national-park. Accessed 11 June 2024.

"General Policy for National Parks." New Zealand Conservation Authority, Department of Conservation, www.doc.govt.nz/documents/about-doc/role/policies-and-plans/general-policy-for-national-parks.pdf. Accessed 11 June 2024.

"National Parks Act 1980: Part 1, Section 4." New Zealand Legislation, Parliamentary Counsel Office, New Zealand Government, www.legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1980/0066/latest/DLM37795.html. Accessed 11 June 2024.

"National Parks." Australian Government, www.australia.gov.au/about-australia/australian-story/national-parks. Accessed 11 June 2024.

"New Zealand Marine Protected Areas." Department of Conservation, New Zealand Government, www.doc.govt.nz/pagefiles/524/marine-protected-areas-map-a4.pdf.

Samuels, Ziggy. "Twenty-Two Best National Parks in Australia--Get Out Back in 2024!" The Broke Backpacker, 2 Feb. 2024, www.thebrokebackpacker.com/best-national-parks-in-australia/. Accessed 12 June 2024.

""Tongariro Mountains Gifted to Crown." NZ History, Ministry for Culture and Heritage, New Zealand Government, 19 Jan. 2017, nzhistory.govt.nz/tongariro-mountains-gifted-to-crown. Accessed 11 June 2024.