The Hakatere Conservation Park was opened on 26 October 2007 by the Minister of Conservation Hon Chris Carter. It preserves an outstanding landscape of tussock basins, mountain ranges, braided riverbeds and subalpine lakes and a landscape that has been shaped by glaciers and rivers. Cirque basins, U-shaped alpine valleys, terminal and lateral moraines, kettleholes, roche mountonees, large greywacke screes, river and glacial terraces and deep gorges are all found in this Canterbury high country landsccape.
The Ashburton / Hakatere River flows through the park and its source is the Ashburton Glacier on the magnificent and hidden Arrowsmith Range. The river is also fed by many lakes and wetlands each formed by the area’s complex glacial history. The imprint of the five glacial advances between 140 000 and 10 000 years ago has created a distinctive landscape. As the ice melted large blocks of ice were left buried in the terminal moraines. When these blocks melted kettlehole tarns were formed were now carry a unique flora that includes some rare wetland native plants. The larger hollows that formed behind the terminal moraines have become lakes such as Heron, Emma and Clearwater. The Ashburton River is a braided river – like the Rakaia and Rangitata that form the boundaries of the Park. Braided rivers are rare internationally – New Zealand is one of only six areas in the world where they occur (Iceland, Siberia, Alaska, Argentina and the Himalayas are the others).
To form, braided rivers need steep, mountainous, glaciated terrain in the headwaters with a plentiful supply of gravel. They then need a basin and plain to flow over with gentler gradients that allow them to form. In the lower reaches of the Canterbury Plains the braided rivers now carry high densities of introduced weeds such as broom, gorse, willow and lupin. However in the upper reaches within the Hakatere Park, the braided beds are largely weed free. In this natural state the rivers have a high productivity of invertebrate life that supports some very special and threatened native birds.
The main braided rivers (Rangitata, Rakaia, Cameron and Ashburton) and the Hakatere / Ashburton lakes provides the largest habitat (over 70 000 ha) for aquatic birdlife in New Zealand. Some 40 000 birds can be present at any one time. Over 80% of the total population of the endemic wrybill nest in this area, as do 10% of the threatened endemic black-fronted tern and 5% of the total population of the threatened black-billed gull and white-fronted tern. 20% of the world population of the endemic New Zealand scaup are found on the lakes as are 20% of the New Zealand population of the rare Australian crested grebe (there are fewer than 400 of the birds surviving in New Zealand).
The moraines, wetlands, lake, braided rivers and mountains make for a magnificent landscape in this new conservation park. With careful and appropriate management the survival and growth of the unique plants and animals which live in the many and special habitats of the park should now be secure.
Tussock & Beech Ecotours is a small business that guides people in the Hakatere Conservation Park. They have been operating now for eight years and have a concession with the Department of Conservation to run their guiding operation. The concession system which the Department runs ensures that businesses operating on conservation land do so with safety systems in place and in a manner which is of minimal disturbance to the environment, plants and animals. The activities they cater for include walking and tramping, birdwatching, alpine flowers, history and geology – and even tours to the site of Edoras (in the upper Rangitata basin) in the Lord of the Rings movies.
Their website is www.nature.net.nz
Acknowledgement Eugenie Sage Rakaia-Rangitata-Hakatere Forest & Bird, No.342, May 2007
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