Southland highlights
Mitre Peak, Milford Sound, Fiordland
National Park
The Southland region includes some of the country’s most diverse and magnificent areas of native forest and indigenous grasslands.
From the rugged peaks of Fiordland National Park - New Zealand's largest at 1.257,000 hectares and part of the Te Wāhipounamu - Southwest New Zealand World Heritage Area, to the wild and lonely subantarctic islands, the region is home to some of our rarest and most endangered native birds.
It contains New Zealand's newest national park, Rakiura on Stewart Island - opened in March 2002, and five subantarctic island groups with World Heritage Status.
Programmes undertaken for threatened species in Southland involve the kākāpo, takahē, NZ dotterel, yellowheads and the albatross and mollymawk.
The region leads the world in the eradication of marram grass, it also has the world’s largest rat eradication programme on Campbell Island and is pioneering the way for spartina control.
There are 12 marine reserves, including the Ulva Island/Te Wharawhara Marine Reserve, Stewart Island/Rakiura which is surrounded by Te Waka ā Te Wera/ Paterson Inlet Mātaitai, the first time in New Zealand that a marine reserve and mātaitai have co-existed in the same area.
Fiordland National Park is a vast, remote wilderness and heart of Te Wāhipounamu - South West New Zealand World Heritage Area.
Fiordland’s ten marine reserves range in size from 93 to 3,672 hectares, and in total include over 10,000 hectares of inner fiord marine habitat. The reserves border the Fiordland National Park and are a fantastic example of protected natural environments.
The kākāpō (night parrot) is one of New Zealand’s unique treasures and with only 124 known surviving birds it is listed internationally as a critically endangered species.
An A-Z listing of all Southland tracks and walks.