Canterbury highlights
Aoraki/Mount Cook, Mount Cook
National Park
From the snow-capped peak of Aoraki to the turquoise waters around Banks Peninsula, Canterbury offers a huge variety of wildlife and landscapes.
These include alpine vegetation, tussock grassland, beech and podocarp forest, braided rivers, lakes, vast coastal wetlands, inland salt pans, geothermal areas and enclosed bay shorelines, supporting both common and threatened species of animals and plants.
There are two national parks, seven conservation parks and numerous other reserves and conservation areas in the region.
Plant programmes are in place for
Pittosporum patulum, pikirangi/mistletoe, shrubby tororaro and pīngao/golden sand sedge. Threatened animal species work involves orange fronted parakeet/kākāriki, kakī/black stilt,mohua/yellowhead, roroa/great spotted kiwi, kaka, kōwaro/Canterbury mudfish, inanga/whitebait and upokohue/Hector's dolphin.
The historic areas in Canterbury range from rock drawings at Raincliff and Weka Pass to military sites at Godley Head and Fort Jervois on Ripapa Island.
Canterbury's special marine areas and projects include Pōhatu Marine Reserve at Flea Bay on Banks Peninsula and Banks Peninsula Marine Mammal Sanctuary for the protection of Hector's dolphin..