A remote, uninhabited subtropical island arc in the South Pacific, where volcanic peaks rise above one of New Zealand's largest marine reserves.
Kermadec Islands
The Kermadec Islands are a remote subtropical island arc lying roughly 800 to 1,000 kilometres northeast of New Zealand's North Island, and a similar distance southwest of Tonga. Administered as an Area Outside Territorial Authority of New Zealand, the chain covers about 33 square kilometres across around sixteen islands and isolated rocks, all of which are uninhabited except for the permanently staffed Raoul Island Station. The islands sit atop the Kermadec Ridge, the emerged peaks of a chain of volcanoes that rise above sea level along a convergent plate boundary with the deep Kermadec Trench to their east.
The Kermadecs are recognised internationally as Kermadec Islands subtropical moist forests, a WWF-defined ecoregion dominated by the red-flowering Kermadec pōhutukawa, with a distinct coastal plant community shaped by salt spray. The surrounding ocean is one of New Zealand's largest marine reserves, known for seabird breeding colonies, humpback and other cetacean migrations, deep-sea hydrothermal vent communities, and tropical reef fish strays. Designated a nature reserve in 1937 and a marine reserve in 1990, the islands have been the focus of long-running restoration work to undo the ecological damage caused by introduced goats, rats, and cats.
