A remote volcanic archipelago of New Zealand's subantarctic, rich in endemic wildlife and World Heritage value.
Auckland Islands
The Auckland Islands are an uninhabited volcanic archipelago in the southern Pacific Ocean, lying roughly 465 kilometres south of New Zealand's South Island. The group includes more than thirty islands, with the large main Auckland Island flanked by Adams Island, Enderby Island, Disappointment Island, Ewing Island, Rose Island, Dundas Island, and Green Island. Together they cover about 570 square kilometres of rugged coastline, steep cliffs, and heavily dissected terrain that rises to more than 700 metres at the summit of Mount Dick on Adams Island.
Ecologically, the islands belong to the Antipodes Subantarctic Islands tundra ecoregion and form one of the most important intact wildlife refuges in the New Zealand region. Soils here support southern rātā forest along the coasts, subalpine shrublands inland, and tussock grassland with megaherbs at higher elevations. The surrounding seas contain breeding colonies of penguins and albatrosses, important populations of New Zealand sea lions and fur seals, and the most significant southern right whale gathering ground in New Zealand waters.
Alongside the other New Zealand subantarctic island groups, the Auckland Islands were inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1998 and are managed as a National Nature Reserve under the highest level of New Zealand protection. The marine environment around them is both a marine mammal sanctuary and a marine reserve, together forming one of the largest natural protection areas in the country.
