Fiordland National Park

Fiordland National Park, largest national park in New Zealand, on the southwestern coast of South Island. Established in 1952, Fiordland consists of 12,602 sq km (4,866 sq mi) of subtropical woodland, beech forests, and alpine landscape. The park includes a number of fjords, headlands, mountains, and waterfalls and cascades, including Sutherland Falls, 580 m (1,900 ft) high. Fiordland National Park also has limestone caves containing glowworms, which were discovered near Lake Te Anau in 1948. The park is noted for such native birds as the brown kiwi; the kea, the only alpine species of parrot; and the notorni or takahe, a swamp-dwelling, flightless rail now unique to the area. The notorni was believed to be extinct until its rediscovery in 1948.

In the 1700s the British explorer Captain James Cook visited both Dusky Sound, the largest of the fjords, and Doubtful Sound to the north. The first European residence in New Zealand was built on Dusky Sound in 1792.

Fiordland National Park was designated a World Heritage Site in 1986 by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). UNESCO's World Heritage list recognizes the world's unique natural and cultural places. Four years later, Fiordland and several other protected areas—including Mount Aspiring National Park, which borders Fiordland, Mount Cook National Park, and Westland National Park—were incorporated into a conservation region called Te Wahipounamu (Southwest New Zealand). Te Wahipounamu in turn was declared a World Heritage Site in the same year.