Te Wahipounamu

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "Te Wahipounamu" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (May 2024) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

Te Wahipounamu - South West New Zealand

UNESCO World Heritage Site
Location	South Island, New Zealand
Criteria	Natural: vii, viii, ix, x
Reference	551
Inscription	1990 (14th Session)
Area	2,600,000 ha
Coordinates	45°02′10″S 167°19′12″E / 45.03611°S 167.32000°E / -45.03611; 167.32000

Te Wāhipounamu (Māori for "the place of greenstone") is a World Heritage Site in the south west corner of the South Island of New Zealand.

Inscribed on the World Heritage List in 1990 and covering 26,000 square kilometres (10,000 sq mi), the site incorporates four national parks:

• Aoraki / Mount Cook
• Fiordland
• Mount Aspiring
• Westland Tai Poutini

It is thought to contain some of the best modern representations of the original flora and fauna of Gondwana, one of the reasons for its listing as a World Heritage site.^[1]