Aoraki/Mount Cook National Park Management Plan

Published:  

Download the publication

The plan has been split up into several smaller sized PDF files for easier and quicker access. Some files are large and may take time to download. Some of the files contain blank pages so that the page numbering corresponds to the hardcopy edition of the plan.

Amendment to original plan

Formal amendments to the original plan were made in June 2012. These are attached in PDF format and should be read in conjunction with the original document.

Amendment to Aoraki/Mount Cook National Park Management Plan, June 2012 (PDF, 373K)

Aoraki/Mount Cook National Park Management Plan

Contents (PDF, 59K)

• Preface
• How to use this plan

1. Introduction (PDF, 1,077K)

1.1 Management planning
1.2 Legislative context
1.3 Background

Note: In June 2012 part of this section was amended. View the amendment (PDF, 373K)

2. Park management (PDF, 29K)

2.1 Management issues
2.2 Management objectives

Note: In June 2012 parts of this section were amended. View the amendment (PDF, 373K)

3. The Treaty of Waitangi (PDF, 12K)

3.1 Introduction

4. The Park polices (PDF, 1,741K)

4.1 Heritage protection
4.2 Visitors
4.3 Concessions and other uses
4.4 Working with others

Note: In June 2012 parts of this section were amended. View the amendment (PDF, 373K)

5. The Aoraki/Mount Cook Village management (PDF, 25K)

5.1 Background
5.2 Village management objectives

6. The Aoraki/Mount Cook Village policies (PDF, 221K)

6.1 Preservation oriented policies
6.2 Village design and use

The Appendices (PDF, 972K)

The Glossary (PDF, 78K)

Note: In June 2012 part of this section was amended. View the amendment (PDF, 373K)

Summary

The purpose of this plan is to express the overall management intentions for Aoraki/Mount Cook National Park.

The plan provides a legislative context and background section for the Park from which objectives, policies and methods have been developed.

Amongst other things, the plan provides guidance to assist park managers in the day-to-day management of the Park.

The plan acknowledges mana whenua and tāngata whenua status of Ngāi Tahu over their ancestral lands and waters within the Park. It acknowledges the Crown’s relationship with and obligations to Ngāi Tahu under section 4 of the Conservation Act 1987, provisions of the Ngāi Tahu Claims Settlement Act 1998 and the Ngāi Tahu Deed of Settlement 1997. Section 4 of the Conservation Act 1987 requires the Department to so interpret and administer the National Parks Act 1980 as to give effect to the principles of the Treaty of Waitangi except where there is clearly an inconsistency between the provisions of the Act and the principles of the Treaty in which case the provisions of the Act apply. The plan integrates these acknowledgements at all levels.

Aoraki Mount Cook National Park is home to New Zealand's highest mountain, which is also highly significant to Ngāi Tahu as their most sacred mountain. It is a Park of dramatic landscape, harsh alpine conditions and many moods, a magnet to recreationalists and tourists alike for a century in the past and assuredly many centuries into the future. The challenge for management, addressed in this Plan, is to achieve a balance between preserving the values of this Park for their intrinsic worth and for the benefit, use and enjoyment of future generations while enabling those living now to experience its natural character and raw magnificence to the fullest.

This plan was approved by the New Zealand Conservation Authority on the 12 August 2004 and remains operative unless formally reviewed in full or in part or amended.

Publication information

ISBN 0-478-22562-8
ISSN 1171-5391-12
Canterbury Conservation Management Planning Series No. 12