Conservation park is a type of protected status for land held by the Crown in New Zealand for conservation purposes. Conservation parks are managed to protect their natural and historic resources, and to provide for public recreation, subject to their conservation purposes. [1] They have a less stringent level of protection than national parks. [2] The status was created under the Conservation Act 1987 and the parks are administered by the Department of Conservation (DoC).
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Forest parks were created under the Forests Act 1949, with first being Tararua Forest Park, established in 1954. [3] They were transferred to DOC administration in 1987, becoming conservation parks, although 'forest park' is still retained in the names of many of them. [4]
As of September 2020 [update] , there were 54 conservation parks in New Zealand (including 36 named as forest parks), covering an area of 2,690,191 hectares. [5]