Paparoa National Park is located on the west coast of the South Island of New Zealand. The park was created in 1987 and covers an area of 430 square kilometers (170 square miles). It stretches from near the coastline up to the peaks of the Paparoa Range. A separate part of the park is located to the north and is centered around Ananui Creek. The park includes a limestone karst area, which is a unique landform shaped by the erosion of limestone. The park has several caves, including Metro Cave / Te Ananui Cave, which is a tourist attraction that charges visitors to enter. Most of the park is covered in forests with many different types of plants. In 1995, a disaster called the Cave Creek disaster occurred in the park. A scenic viewing platform collapsed, resulting in the deaths of fourteen people.
The Paparoa Track, which is one of New Zealand’s Great Walks, passes through the park.
A small community called Punakaiki, which is near the Pancake Rocks and Blowholes tourist attractions, is located on the edge of the park. The park is also close to the towns of Westport, Greymouth, and Barrytown.
History
In 1976, the Federated Mountain Clubs recognized the northern part of the Paparoa Ranges as a possible wilderness area. In 1979, the Native Forest Action Council suggested creating a national park covering 130,000 hectares, including the northern Paparoa Ranges and nearby land to the north and east. This led the National Parks and Reserves Authority to consider the western Paparoa Range as a possible national park. At the same time, a proposal by the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research and the National Museum resulted in the official designation of the lowland karst syncline forests as the Pororari Ecological Area in 1979.
The first plan for a large park including the wilderness area was not accepted. However, after seven rounds of public input and support from other environmental groups, such as the Royal Forest and Bird Protection Society, a park covering 30,327 hectares was officially named Paparoa National Park on 23 November 1987.
After Pike River Coal was liquidated, Solid Energy took over its assets. The government then bought the 3,580 hectares of land around the Pike River Mine. On 15 November 2015, Environment Minister Nick Smith announced that this land would be added to Paparoa National Park.
Geography
Paparoa National Park is in the northern part of the West Coast region on the South Island. It is located between the Buller River (Kawatiri) and the Grey River (Māwheranui). The park includes the west side of the Paparoa Range and some areas on the east along the Inangahua River. It covers the areas where water flows into the Punakaiki, Pororari, and Fox (Potikohua) rivers, as well as Bullock Creek (Punungairo). The park also includes the Metro / Te Ananui cave system and the south side of the Tiropahi River catchment.
Geology
The park has a wide range of different types of landforms, including coastal areas, lowlands, and mountains. Major geological features in the park include the Barrytown syncline, the Punakaiki anticline, the Paparoa Tectonic Zone, the Cape Foulwind fault, and the Hawera fault. Most of the park is mountainous. On the eastern side of the main mountain range, there are deep valleys shaped by glaciers, with steep cliffs, cirques, hanging valleys, and truncated spurs. The western coastline is known for its beautiful and varied scenery, which is easy to reach.
The Paparoa Mountains were raised during the late Pliocene or early Quaternary periods. Mount Lodge, the tallest mountain in the park at 1,447 meters (4,747 feet), has the oldest rocks in New Zealand. Over the past 10 million years, movement along the Alpine Fault has separated the granite and gneiss rocks of the Paparoa Mountains from their original neighbors. These rocks now closely resemble those found in Fiordland, far to the southwest, rather than the nearby Southern Alps.
Rivers flowing from the Paparoa Ranges pass through a limestone syncline, forming underground waterways and large cave systems. The main rivers in the park are the Fox, Pororari, and Punakaiki. Another river, Cave Creek, is the site of the 1995 Cave Creek disaster. A complex cave system feeds this river.
Upstream of the Xanadu and Taurus Major sinkholes on Bullock Creek, a wetland area called a polje can form after heavy rain. This polje is about 1 kilometer (0.62 miles) wide and 1 meter (3 feet 3 inches) deep. From the 1870s, trees were cut down and drainage was done in the polje, but efforts to restore the wetland began in 1986. Another large polje in New Zealand is located at Lake Disappear in Waikato.
River gorges, surrounded by high limestone cliffs covered in forest, provide access to the park’s karst landscape. However, many tributaries have narrow, steep gorges with waterfalls. Features like dry, mossy streambeds, sinkholes, blind valleys, and basins where water flows into or out of caves show the complex underground systems. These systems, including shafts, passages, and caverns, were formed over time by water dissolving the limestone. The forest helps this process by adding decaying plant material to the water, which increases its acidity. The largest feature in the karst region is the Barrytown syncline. Limestone is visible on both sides of the syncline, while younger gravels and mudstones fill the area between them. Most known cave systems are on the western side of the syncline, where underground water flows along weak layers in the rock.
The Paparoa coastline is marked by high cliffs shaped by waves from the Tasman Sea, along with indented coves and sandy beaches. Small islands and rock pillars are found offshore. These terraces were once separate islands that became part of the mainland when New Zealand was recently uplifted. A famous coastal feature is the Pancake Rocks and Blowholes at Dolomite Point, near Punakaiki. These rocks are made of layered limestone that has been eroded to form pools and blowholes.
Ecology
Bird habitats in the park stretch from the coastline to the top of the Paparoa Ranges. Some bird species, like tūī, bellbirds, kākā, kererū (New Zealand pigeon), and parakeets, move from lower forest areas in winter to higher forest areas in summer.
A special part of the coast is the nesting area of the rare seabird, the Westland petrel (tāiko), found on thickly wooded areas just south of the Punakaiki River. The Westland petrel nesting site at Punakaiki has been recognized as an Important Bird Area by BirdLife International.
Large groups of New Zealand fur seals live in nearby areas around Westport, such as at Cape Foulwind. Rare southern elephant seals and leopard seals also visit these areas. Hector’s dolphins, which have some of the highest numbers in the country, and other dolphins, including killer whales, can be seen near the shore. Whales are still very rare in the area, but several different species have been spotted.
Conservation and human interaction
Paparoa National Park is protected from mining under Schedule 4 of the Crown Minerals Act. However, there have been suggestions to allow some mining inside the park. On 22 March 2010, Gerry Brownlee, the Minister of Energy and Resources, and Kate Wilkinson, the Minister of Conservation, shared a discussion paper that proposed removing 7,058 hectares of land from Schedule 4 of the Crown Minerals Act 1991. This included the Inangahua sector of Paparoa National Park, which covers 3,315 hectares, or 8 percent of the park. The proposal would allow mining in that area. On 26 March 2010, a representative for Gerry Brownlee said that surface mining in the park could not be completely ruled out.
On 20 July 2010, Brownlee and Wilkinson announced that the government had received 37,552 submissions about the discussion paper. They decided not to remove any land from Schedule 4 for mining. Instead, the government agreed to add 14 areas covering 12,400 hectares to Schedule 4, including 240 hectares of Paparoa National Park (the northwest addition).
Paparoa National Park is a place where many people enjoy walking, hiking, and viewing natural sights like caves. The Truman Track, located 3 kilometers north of Punakaiki, connects State Highway 6 to a headland through a short walk through a forest with ferns, nīkau palms, podocarps, and rātā trees, and flax plants near the coast. The Paparoa Track is another popular path.
A 55-kilometer walkway called the Paparoa Track, which runs from Blackball to Punakaiki, and the Pike29 Memorial Track were built in the park to honor the 29 miners who died in the 2010 Pike River Mine disaster. Most of the victims’ families supported this, but some people were concerned because Solid Energy decided in 2014 that it was too risky to re-enter the mine to recover remains.
The creation of the Paparoa Track helped grow the adventure sports community on the West Coast. Events like "The Paparoa," which include trail running and mountain biking on the track, celebrate the region’s mining history and highlight successful female athletes, such as Casey Brown, Ruth Croft, and Emily Miazga.