Islands off nz
islets before nzOnshore Islands: living spaces
These islands stretch over 2,800 km - from the almost sub-tropical Kermadec islands to the sub-Antarctic Campbell group of islands. The islands are biodiverse because they are not disturbed by parasites. New Zealand's islands that have never been accessed by parasites (such as rats) are the best example of relatively unchanged eco-systems.
More than 50 islands are nature reserves. The off-shore islands are home to one of the world's most varied marine bird populations - from tropical and booby bird populations in the northern hemisphere to a wide variety of albatross and penguin populations in the southern hemisphere. These islands are the last refuge for some wildlife and uncommon flora.
This includes Tuvatara, many lizard varieties such as Duvaucel's geckos and large invertebrate animals such as Netapunga and Mercury Island Tancedetsa. A few of the Three Kingdoms islands plant life has been cut down to one or two people. It administers about 220 islands of more than 5 hectares and several hundred smaller islands and crags.
Most of the island's protected areas have been cleared of parasites and the woods and fauna are now being rebuilt. More than 100 islands are now free of parasites. National Heritage and other protected groups are continuing the restoration and protection of New Zealand's islets.
Southern Isle | New Zealand Islands
Maori Te Waipounamu, the largest and most southerly of New Zealand's two main islands, in the Pacific Ocean. Southern Isles are divided from Northern Isles by Cook Strait to the N and Stewart Islands to the Nothern by Foveaux Strait. The hilly landscape covers almost three fourths of the southern isle, with a main range of mountains, the Southern Alps, which extend from SW to NAST and peak at Mount Cook (3,754 metres).
South Alps separates the small coastline of the Westland Plain (west) from the wide Canterbury Plains (east). It is part of the Te Wahipounamu Nature Reserve (Southwest New Zealand) along the western side of the islands, which was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1990.
Furthermore, five groups of islands off the south coastline (Snares, Bounty Islands, Antipodes Islands, Auckland Islands and Campbell Islands), which form the New Zealand Subantarctic Islands, were declared a World Heritage Site in 1998. In 1642 the South Isle was spotted by the Flemish sailor Abel Janszoon Tasman. Despite having several large metropolitan areas - Christchurch, Dunedin and Invercargill among them - its populations have been growing less quickly than those of the North Isle.