Story: National parks

Paparoa National Park, on the South Island’s West Coast, was founded in 1987. The Pancake Rocks, jutting into the sea, are among the park’s best-known sights. The limestone they are formed from underlies most of the landscape, and can be seen running diagonally up the hill to the left of the rocks.

Listen to Nick Hancox of the Department of Conservation describe Paparoa’s special features.

Transcript

It's a very important lowland forest area. Our national parks in the past have focused a lot on high alpine areas, Paparoa protects a large segment of warm, lowland forest which stretches basically from the sea coast to the crest of the Paparoa Range. That and the limestone landscapes of the central valley which runs north and south through the park, Paparoa syncline. There aren't very areas of lowland limestone country which is still in a more or less natural state and Paparoa's very important in that. Limestone landscapes have their own very special features and there are marvelous examples of caves and canyons and underground rivers that are characteristic of limestone which Paparoa protects.