The Nelson Marlborough Conservation Boards’ area of jurisdiction covers all of Nelson and Marlborough with oversight of the whole of Kahurangi National Park. There are over 300 walks in the Boards’ district, totalling more than 1950km of walking tracks. Protection programmes in the area cover a variety of species, including, hectors dolphin, tuatara, endemic frogs, Powelliphanta snails, great spotted kiwi, takahe, Hutton’s shearwater, tītī, weka, kākā, and whio.

Significant areas

Kahurangi National Park is the second largest of the thirteen national parks of New Zealand. In the east, beech forest is dominant while to the west there is podocarp forest with a rich understory of ferns, vines and shrubs. The varied habitat is home to numerous different species.

Abel Tasman National Park is New Zealand’s smallest National Park at 22,530 hectares. The park offers protection to a variety of flora and fauna and the Tonga Island Marine Reserve protects marine life along the coastline and out to sea for one nautical mile.

Nelson Lakes National Park protects 102,000 hectares of the Southern Alps. The park encompasses beech forest, mountains, streams, and a number of lakes. The largest of these lakes, Rotoiti and Rotorua, were formed by glaciers.   

Farewell Spit is a magnificent wetland sanctuary to over 90 bird species. In spring, thousands of birds flock here from the Northern hemisphere and the area serves as a breeding ground for penguins.

The Boards’ district includes: 3 National Parks, 1 Conservation Park (Ka Whata tu o Rakihouia), 1 Forest Park (Mt Richmond), Nature Reserves (such as Takapourewa and Farwell Spit), 5 Marine Reserves, 750 Historic places, and 1 Recreation Reserve (Molesworth).