Hunua Ranges

Template:Short description Template:Use New Zealand English Template:Infobox park The Hunua Ranges is a mountain range and regional park to the southeast of Auckland city, in the Auckland and Waikato regions of New Zealand's North Island. The ranges cover some Template:Convert and rise to 688 metres (2255 ft) at Kohukohunui.<ref name=teara>"Hunua Ranges", An Encyclopaedia of New Zealand, edited by A. H. McLintock, originally published in 1966. Te Ara – The Encyclopedia of New Zealand, updated 26 September 2006. Accessed 15 March 2007.</ref>

Auckland Council owns and manages Template:Convert of the ranges, including part located in the Waikato region, as a regional park open to the public.<ref name=councilprofile>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Geography

The ranges are located approximately 50 kilometres (30 mi) southeast of the main Auckland urban area, above the western shore of the Firth of Thames.<ref name=bounded>"The Hunua Ranges [...] are bounded on the east by the Firth of Thames, the north by the Tamaki Strait, the west by the Wairoa River, and the south by the lower reaches of the Mangatangi River." Template:Cite journal </ref> They are sparsely populated, and mostly lie within the boundaries of the Waharau and Hunua Ranges Regional Parks. The settlement of Hunua lies at the foot of the Hunua Ranges.<ref name="regionalcouncil">Hunua and Waharau Regional Parks, Auckland Regional Council.</ref>

The ranges are covered by the largest area of native bush in Auckland,<ref name="lthornber">Template:Cite news</ref> with streams, waterfalls, and hills overlooking the Auckland Region and Hauraki Gulf.<ref name=councilprofile />

Auckland gets much of its water from reservoirs sources from rivers and streams, including the Hunua Falls on the Wairoa River.<ref name=regionalcouncil/>

The Mangatawhiri Ridge is one of the last remaining breeding grounds of the North Island kōkako.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

Kohukohunui

Kohukohunui (Template:Convert) is the highest point in the Hunua Ranges.<ref name="wilderness">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The New Zealand Ministry for Culture and Heritage gives a translation of "great mist" for Kohukohunui.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

History

Pre-European settlement

Tāmaki Māori have traditionally used the ranges for a wide range of resources. The traditional name is {{#invoke:Lang|lang}} ("The Expansive Forest of Kohukohunui"), named after Kohukohunui, the highest peak of the ranges.<ref name="NGP">Template:Cite book</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> {{#invoke:Lang|lang}} was a name used to describe the wider country between the Wairoa River valley and Papakura.<ref name="NGP"/> Māori made some use of the ranges and early European visitors found areas of clearing that had been used as gardens. Ngāi Tai ki Tāmaki are tangata whenua for the ranges, and many archaeological sites are known within the ranges.<ref name=teara />

In November 1769, Captain Cook visited the Hauraki Gulf area. Cook gifted pigs and potatoes to senior members of Te Uri ō Pou from Ōrere, who then planted these along the Wairoa River, as one of the first crops of potatoes grown in New Zealand. The pigs were released into the Hunua Ranges, where they were hunted by Ngāi Tai.<ref name="Cultural Heritage">Template:Cite report</ref><ref name="NGP"/>

The main part of the ranges was subject to confiscation after the New Zealand Wars.<ref name=teara /> Early European use of the ranges was for timber extraction and for farming but low soil fertility limited success. There has been some mining of Manganese in the past. Gold prospecting for quartz reefs has never found payable reefs.<ref name=teara />

20th century

From the 1920s onwards the land was progressively bought by Auckland City Council utilising funds from its water supply operation.<ref name=barton1978>Barton, Ian L. 1978 "Auckland's south eastern bulwark : a history of the Hunua Ranges". Privately published.</ref> Development of the water supplies commenced in 1946, with the first of the four dams, Cossey's, completed with a capacity of 11.3 million cubic meters in 1956.<ref name="EvolvingAuckland2.1">Template:Cite book</ref> Three embankment dams were constructed in the area: Upper Mangatāwhiri (1965), Wairoa (1975) and Mangatangi (1977).<ref name="EvolvingAuckland2.1"/> Combined, the dams have a capacity of 77.1 million cubic meters, and supply approximately 68% of Auckland's potable water, through the Ardmore Water Treatment Plant.<ref name="watercare">[1] Template:Webarchive, Watercare Services Ltd. Retrieved 22 February 2013</ref>

A decision was made to reforest the ranges in the early 1960s, after the area had gradually reverted into farmland.Template:Sfn The bulk water supply operation and the land passed to the newly formed Auckland Regional Authority in 1964. The Authority completed the water supply development and continued the exotic afforestation on some of the north and western catchment land, started by the City Council, and its Water Department administered the land.<ref name=barton1978 /> The ranges were planted with a mix of exotic forest and native species, predominantly rimu. The forestry service nursery was one of the first organisations in New Zealand to propagate native trees through grafting techniques, and were the first to successfully graft kauri trees. The forestry service was shut down in the late 1980s, as the Auckland Regional Authority was replaced with the Auckland Regional Council.Template:Sfn

The water operation was corporatised as Watercare Services in 1992, but the land itself remained with the Auckland Regional Council. Watercare took ownership of the water related assets and took a long term lease from the Auckland Regional Council of the reservoir areas and the operational areas. The exotic forestry land was also leased to another party. The catchment land became regional park land.Template:Sfn

21st century

In November 2010, the southernmost part of the Hunua Ranges were transferred to Waikato region.<ref>Franklin Ward map, Auckland Council. Retrieved 10 November 2010.</ref> This determines the local government administrative boundaries, but the ownership of the former Auckland Regional Council park land went to the Auckland Council and that of the water assets is unchanged with Watercare Services.<ref name=watercare />

Extensive flooding in the Hunua Ranges in March 2017 cut off roads.<ref name="2017flooding-stuff">Template:Cite news</ref> People staying on the ranges had to be evacuated.<ref name="militaryhelp">Template:Cite news</ref>

In May 2018, parts of the park were closed to stop the spread of Kauri dieback.<ref name="kauristanding">Template:Cite news</ref><ref name=kauridieback>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Some of the tracks reopened in late 2020.<ref name="morereopen">Template:Cite news</ref>

In September and October 2018, the entire park was closed during a 1080 pest control programme.<ref name="2018pestcontrol">Template:Cite news</ref> The programme was subject to an unsuccessful legal challenge.<ref name="sherwoodtrust">Template:Cite news</ref>

Recreation

Activities in the regional park include walking, mountain-biking, bird-watching and drone-flying (by permission).<ref name=councilprofile />

Bibliography

• Template:Cite book