The South Island high country of New Zealand : landscape challenges and future management

Abstract

"In this scarred country, this cold threshold land, The mountains crouch like tigers. By the sea Folk talk of them hid vaguely out of sight. But here they stand in massed solidity To seize upon the day and night horizon."

('The Mountains,' James K. Baxter).

These lines by J. K. Baxter capture something of the ambivalent role played by the South Island High Country in the collective psyche, science, and public policy of New Zealand. As Kevin O'Connor, Professor of Range Management, put it in 1991: "Most people in New Zealand would be disconcerted if their mountain skylines to familiar landscapes were removed. Nevertheless, the influence of New Zealand mountains on its national consciousness does not appear to have great significance in policy...". Nowhere is this more apparent than in regard to landscape issues. This article focuses on the landscape of the South Island High Country. We first define the High Country, describe its distinctive landscapes, and provide an overview of its landscape history. We then identify and review trends and issues in landscape change.