Aotearoa - New Zealand: The Place and its People Natural History and Culture Links
The Place
The New Zealand archipelago is located in the South Pacific and is comprised of three large islands (the North Island, South Island and Stewart Island) and several hundred smaller offshore and outlying islands. The New Zealand landmass has an area of 270,500 km2, and stretches from 48° South to latitude 34° South. The climate of New Zealand’s main islands is maritime and temperate, while its outlying islands vary climatically from subtropical to sub-Antarctic.
New Zealand is a relatively young country, both its land and its people. The New Zealand landmass is a result of the collision of the Pacific and Indo-Australian plates. Geologists think that New Zealand broke away from the supercontinent Gondwana about 70 million years ago, before mammals were established on the landmass. Once separated from other landmasses by oceans, only plants and animals dispersed by water or wind could reach New Zealand. Thus, the New Zealand flora and fauna evolved in isolation, and is characterized by a high degree of endemism. In the absence of mammalian competitors and predators, many of the species of birds and invertebrates in New Zealand evolved to occupy ecological niches that elsewhere in the world were occupied by mammals. The resulting assemblage of species was - and is - both unique and extremely vulnerable to the arrival of new species.
With its myriad of landforms, New Zealand is an exciting place. The dynamic processes of plate tectonics that shaped the landmass are ongoing, as is evidenced by active volcanoes and occasional earthquakes. Ecosystems in New Zealand range from temperate coastal, through temperate rainforests to true alpine.
Following the first arrival of people on its shores, New Zealand has undergone extreme changes: waves of human colonization resulted in extinction of some of New Zealand's most unusual fauna, and have left a number of unique species and ecosystems with the dubious distinction of being threatened or endangered. Many of the current resource management challenges involve issues of biodiversity, ecological integrity and biosecurity.
New Zealand Department of Conservation
LandCare New Zealand
The People
New Zealanders trace their ancestry to a variety of cultural backgrounds. The first settlement of New Zealand is thought to have taken place between 900 and 1200 AD. These settlers came from central Polynesia. Initially there was two-way travel between central Polynesia and Aotearoa (New Zealand), and over time this ceased. Settlement patterns varied greatly throughout the country. The north of the country, being warmer, was more populated, and the coast was a preferred area, probably related to the abundance of kaimoana (seafood). By 1500, a distinctly Maori Society had emerged. In the late 1700's, European explorers arrived in New Zealand, and by the early 1800's, European missionaries, sealers and whalers were well established.
Following the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi in 1840, Europeans arrived in large numbers. A tumultuous century followed, marked by land-wars and boom and bust industries. Timber merchants and miners came and went, and farming became the dominant land use. Despite the fact that approximately 80% of New Zealanders live in urban environments, New Zealand is still a nation reliant on primary production. The current population of New Zealand totals four million, 14% of whom are Maori. The majority (75%) are of European extraction with the remainder being made up of people from the Pacific (6%) Asia (6%) India (1%) and 'other' (1%). Cultural relations are still much the topic of debate in New Zealand. Students may wish to look up information about New Zealand's people, her governance system and approaches to natural resources and environmental management by accessing the government's website at: http://www.govt.nz/
Te Papa - New Zealand’s National Museum