The natural environment

Air | Land | Fresh water | Coastal and marine | Biodiversity | Climate change

Land

Auckland city sits on a total land area of around 630 square kilometres. We have one of the most interesting and exciting geographical assemblages of any other city in the world.
 

The Hauraki Gulf islands

Approximately 60 per cent of all the land area that is Auckland city is on the Hauraki Gulf islands. This is spread over 60 different islands of varying sizes, uses and character. The Department of Conservation administer a large proportion of the Hauraki Gulf islands as conservation areas.

Hauraki Gulf islands
Department of Conservation (www.doc.govt.nz)
 

Our volcanic centres

Auckland city sits on a volcanic field that spreads throughout the Auckland region. There are 22 volcanic centres in our city ranging from large conspicuous cones such as Mt Eden to underwater basins such as Panmure basin. Rangitoto is perhaps the most well known volcano in the city although it is also the youngest having risen out of the sea only 700 years ago.
 

Land issues we face

Two of the biggest issues facing the quality of our land today are contamination and erosion.

Contamination

We take contaminated land very seriously as it poses serious health risks to both humans and the wider environment. Because of the transient nature of many of the contaminants it can be very difficult to place boundaries around areas that are potentially contaminated. However, the council's recent urban soils review identified and took action on numerous contaminated sites throughout the city.

Urban soils review

Erosion

Land erosion is also a big problem especially where the land rises steeply such as our coastal cliffs and the sides of our volcanic cones. Places such as One tree Hill, Mt Albert and Mt Hobson all experience relatively high levels of erosion and have to be carefully managed for this.
 

Find out more

• Auckland City Council reports annually on land in the State of the Environment report
• The Auckland Regional Council is responsible for investigating potentially contaminated sites and controlling discharges to the environment
• The Ministry for the Environment provides information on the land issues we face as a country.

State of the Environment
Auckland Regional Council (www.arc.govt.nz)
Ministry for the Environment (www.mfe.govt.nz)

Published October 2008