Compiled by Outside Online

March 14, 2002 New Zealand, with one-third of its land dedicated to conservation, has recently added another jewel to its crown, Rakiura National Park.

On March 9, Prime Minister Helen Clark, Conservation Minister Sandra Lee, and mountaineer Sir Edmund Hilary officially opened Rakiura National Park in a ceremony at Lee Bay, the park's northern boundary on Stewart Island, the countries southernmost island. Rakiura—the land of glowing skies in the native Maori language—covers some 390,000 acres of wilderness, making it the 5th largest of New Zealand's 14 National Parks.

Blanketed with native Podocarp broadleaf forests and largely free of the introduced stoats, ferrets, and weasels found on other islands, the park offers some outstanding bird watching opportunities. The park is also backpacker-friendly, with more than 150 miles of maintained trails.

With the establishment of Rakiura, the world's southernmost national park, more than ten percent of New Zealand is now designated national parkland.

A New Zealand Department of Conservation park impact report has raised some concern that the island's limited infrastructure could be strained by an estimated tripling of visitors to more than 150,000 annually. Home to only 375 residents, Stewart Island is the least developed of New Zealand's three main islands. According to the Southland Times, District Mayor Frana Cardno told the Prime Minister at the opening ceremony that it would take additional resources from the government to keep Stewart Island a unique place.

"We are going to have to share this island and some of us aren't too happy about that," Cardno was quoted as saying.

Some Stewart Island residents are concerned about the DOC's willingness to consider using aerial drops of 1080 poison for pest control.