Waitakere Ranges

The Waitakere Ranges are a chain of hills in the Auckland Region, generally running approximately 25 km (15.5 mi) from north to south, 25 km west of central Auckland, New Zealand. The maximum elevation within the ranges is 474 m (1555 ft). The ranges and surrounding areas were traditionally known to local Māori as Te Wao Nui o Tiriwa (The Great Forest of Tiriwa). It is under the jurisdiction of the Auckland Council.The western coastline of the ranges consists of cliffs exceeding 300 m (984 ft), interspersed infrequently with beaches. The rugged upstanding topography is formed from erosion-resistant ancient volcanic conglomerate and lava flows laid down in eruptions from the large Waitakere volcano to the west 12–25 million years ago. The ranges are covered in native forest, most of which is in the process of regeneration since extensive logging and farming in the mid–late 19th and early 20th centuries.In 1894 a group led by Sir Algernon Thomas (the first professor of natural sciences at Auckland University College, now the University of Auckland) persuaded the Auckland City Council to preserve 3,500 acres (14 km2) in the Nihotupu area of the ranges as a bush reserve. In 1895 the national Government vested the land, and several other smaller areas of the ranges, in the City Council as "reserves for the conservation of native flora and fauna". The Waitakere Ranges Regional Park now contains about 39,500 acres (160 km2). The area is also protected under the Waitakere Ranges Heritage Area Act 2008.