Rohe - Iwi links
Ngāi Tahu holds manawhenua over the park.
Mt Murchison and the area around it were known to the ancient Māori as Kaimatua.
The catchments of the Waimakariri and Taramakau rivers were used extensively in pre-European times by Māori in their seasonal round of food gathering activities and east-west travel to the pounamu lands of the Tai Poutini.
Waimakariri means cold waters and Taramakau may mean curved flow.
Key features and current issues
Aspects peculiar to the park include:
- The east-west regional utility corridors for road, rail, power and communications which pass through or are adjacent to the park.
- High degree of accessibility to the park, particularly from State Highway 73, and the degree of visitor development which has resulted from this.
- Its proximity to urban concentrations - Christchurch, Greymouth and Hokitika - more than 540,000 people within a 125 km radius.
Current issues include the Ngāi Tahu wish to see a Māori dimension interpreted in the park that reflects their relationship with their ancestral land. In the Māori view of the natural world all life forms, land, water and sky are related by whakapapa (genealogy) and therefore land and people are inseparable.
Temple Basin is an important area of the park for a number of reasons. It is a fragile environment that is subjected to reasonably intensive year-round use. Activities include skiing, snow and rock climbing, scenic appreciation and studying alpine fauna and flora.
There is a club-operated ski-field in the park. It is important that high quality protection and management systems are followed to ensure the preservation of the natural environment.