Occupying the southwest corner of the South Island in New Zealand, the Fiordland National Park is the largest of the fourteen national parks located in New Zealand.
The administration of the park is by the Department of Conservation as it comprises a large part of the world heritage site, Te Wahipounamu with an area of 12,500km.
This place can also be described as being a cherished corner of the world where valleys compete with mountains for space, where scale is pretty much beyond grasp, where meters are used to measure rainfall and scenery that incorporates with the widest width of emotions.
The Fiordland National Park was founded in 1952 and reaches over 1.2 million hectares in size. The multiple habitats of Fiordland support an assorted range of fauna and flora with many emerging in a virtual separation to a high rate of endemism or animals and plants that have progressed to be entirely exclusive to this zone.
There is a limitation to the human activity that is carried out in Fiordland. Early hunts that took place here consisted of individuals catching fish from the sea as well as gathering greenery from the rivers.
It was during the 1960s when Fiordland became the scenery for New Zealand’s important conservation debates. This took place when it was proposed to increase the levels of the Lake Manapouri in order to help with hydro-electricity at the West Arm.
The wildlife in the area includes seals, dolphins, and birds. The familiarized species include rats, deer, and mice.
When it comes to birds, this is the Kakapo, which is the only nonflying parrot in the world. Alternatively, there is also the native Kiwi bird.
A major variety of ferns and understory shrubs heavily forest the park along with Nothofagus trees. The vegetation of the forest floor consists of Blechnum discolor and Crown Fern.
The park is a very popular destination amongst hikers and alpine climbers. The Fiordland area is in fact a challenging hiking destination with a few tracks, including Routeburn, Hollyford, Milford, and Kepler. The travel that involves off-track travel usually has to rely on following the trails of the deer. There are several hazards, such as:
- Poor weather
- Sand flies
- Flooding
The Fiordland National Park is the largest of the 14 national parks of New Zealand with inspiring fiords that are carved by rivers of pristine lakes, ice, valleys, hanging valleys, native lavish beech forest that stretches from the southern ocean to the mountains, and rugged ridgelines. The four remarkable areas that must be explore whilst in the park are the beautiful Milford Track and Milford Sound, which are experienced by ocean, land, and air. The different options available to improve your experience are boating, hiking, and using a helicopter.
The impact of the exquisite isolation of both the Hollyford Valley and the Martins Bay is that here you will find some of the most ancient trees in Fiordland as well as some rare wildlife.
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