West Coast (region), New Zealand
The West Coast is a picturesque region located on the western side of New Zealand's South Island, bordered by the Tasman Sea to the west and the Southern Alps to the east, which include Aoraki/Mount Cook, the country's highest peak. Comprising the Buller, Grey, and Westland Districts, the region is known for its stunning natural landscapes, including glaciers, temperate rainforests, and national parks, such as Paparoa and Westland Tai Poutini. Historically significant to Māori culture, the West Coast is the only area in New Zealand rich in pounamu (greenstone), a highly valued resource.
The area experienced a boom during the 19th-century gold rush, which significantly shaped its demographic and economic landscape, attracting miners from various backgrounds, including British, Chinese, and Shetland Islanders. However, as mining declined, the region shifted its economic focus to tourism, capitalizing on its natural attractions and historical sites. Despite a steadily decreasing population, with around 31,575 residents reported in the 2018 Census, the West Coast maintains a unique cultural identity, influenced by both its Māori heritage and the legacy of its mining past. Today, visitors can explore its rich history while enjoying the breathtaking scenery, making it an intriguing destination for nature and history enthusiasts alike.
West Coast (region), New Zealand
The West Coast is a region on the western side of New Zealand's South Island, made up of the Buller District, the Grey District, and the Westland District. The West Coast Regional Council is the regional authority. To the west is the Tasman Sea, and on the eastern border are the Southern Alps (Te Tiritiri-o-te-moana), which include New Zealand's largest mountain, Aoraki/Mount Cook, just over the border in the Canterbury region.
The West Coast is one of the largest and most remote regions in New Zealand. It has significance for Māoris because it is the only place in New Zealand where pounamu (greenstone) can be found. Pounamu is a treasure to Māoris. The West Coast Pākehā culture is defined by its history as a settlement for gold and coal miners. As a result of the decline in mining in the twenty-first century, the West Coast has turned to tourism opportunities in areas such as the Franz Josef (Ka Roimata o Hine) and Haast Glaciers, as well as the Paparoa and Westland Tai Poutini National Parks, to boost the local economy.
Historical Perspective
When Māoris arrived in New Zealand in the fourteenth century, they began exploring the country. The West Coast was soon occupied by Māoris. The area between the Grey and Hokitika Rivers, in particular, was a popular pounamu gathering site, and there was often conflict among different Māori tribes over control of these pounamu-gathering areas. In 1826 it was estimated that five hundred Māoris lived in the West Coast.
After European colonisation, the West Coast was originally part of the Canterbury Province. A gold rush during the 1840s and 1850s briefly resulted in the West Coast being one of the most populated and developed parts of New Zealand. A special Westland County was established in 1873, just before the provincial system of government in New Zealand was abolished in 1876. This county maintained its political territory, but the population of the West Coast began to decline at the end of the gold rush. The West Coast was important for the development of trade unionism and the Labour Party in New Zealand. The town of Blackball was where the New Zealand Labour Party was formed, and Blackball's miners participated in strikes in 1908 and 1913.
Geography and Climate
The West Coast is a long thin strip of land between the Southern Alps on the east and the Tasman Sea to the west. It lies between the Pacific and Australian Plates, with the Alpine Fault passing through the Southern Alps. This fault line helps create spectacular scenery, with steep mountains in the Alps blanketed by glaciers and streams flowing downhill toward the coast. Around fourteen thousand years ago, the region began to warm up, and many of the rivers and floodplains are areas previously dominated by glaciers.
Glaciers still remain, however. The Franz Josef and Fox Glaciers are located in the southern part of the Westland District, and this area is part of Te Wāhipounamu, a World Heritage site that incorporates the glaciers, Aoraki/Mount Cook, and Fiordland. Coastal areas of the West Coast are dominated by pastoral farming and temperate rainforests. Two to three thousand millimetres of rain falls in the district each year. Native birds are abundant, despite the presence of introduced predators such as rats and stoats. Species such as bellbirds, petrels, kea, kākā and kereru are all found.
Economy
In the nineteenth century the West Coast's economy was dominated by gold mining. As the gold reserves began to run out, other forms of commerce, such as coal mining, farming, forestry and fishery, established themselves in the local economy. Modern dairy farming began here after the end of World War II, helped by the establishment of roads, railways and bridges across the Southern Alps. Forestry was hampered by poor roads in the nineteenth century; however, by 1910–11, 20 per cent of New Zealand's timber originated in the West Coast. In the 1920s national parks protected some areas that contained rimu, the most attractive wood to cut and export.
Fishing boats harvest species such as cod, groper, sole, tuna, squid and orange roughy. Another contributor to the local economy is whitebait harvesting. The retail price of this seafood delicacy is often one hundred dollars a kilogram; however, due to fishing laws, it cannot be commercially harvested.
Since the abolishment of forestry in the area in the 1990s, tourism has become the major contributor to the local economy. Visitors can see several national parks in West Coast, and the West Coast Historical Museum at Hokitika is popular with local and international visitors.
Demographics
No census figures are available from the 1850s and the 1860s, but the West Coast's population could have exceeded fifty thousand people during the gold rush. By the 1870s this figure had most likely dipped to below thirty thousand, slightly below the population that exists in the twenty-first century. Most of the miners came from the United Kingdom, often through Australia, which had experienced a gold rush in the 1830s and 1840s. Ethnicities that settled in the West Coast included Chinese miners, Shetland Islanders and British coal miners. In particular, the British miners helped create a trade union movement that would influence New Zealand's politics in the twentieth century.
The second half of the twentieth century saw a significant decline in the West Coast's population as mining began to wane. In the 2018 Census, the population of the region was 31,575, a majority being New Zealanders of European descent. The remaining population is made up of Māoris, Pacific Islanders, Asians, Middle Easterners, Latin Americans and Africans.
Greymouth is the largest town in Westland, followed by the towns of Westport, Hokitika, and Reefton. The region has a unique sense of isolation due to its size, beauty, remoteness and low population density.
Bibliography
Bradshaw, Julia. Golden Prospects: Chinese on the West Coast of New Zealand. West Coast Historical and Mechanical Society, 2009.
Maunder, Paul. Coal and the Coast: A Reflection on the Pike River Disaster. Canterbury UP, 2012.
Nathan, Simon. "West Coast Region." Te Ara—The Encyclopedia of New Zealand, Ministry for Culture and Heritage, New Zealand Government, 23 Feb. 2009, www.TeAra.govt.nz/en/west-coast-region. Accessed 17 June 2024.
Pfaff, Carl, and Julia Bradshaw. The Diggers' Story: Accounts of the West Coast Gold Rushes. Canterbury UP, 2014.
Rogers, Anna. Illustrated History of the West Coast. Reed, 2005.