New Zealand deservedly has a reputation as a tour destination that offers a unique natural history experience. The following article briefly explores some of the fundamental reasons why the nature of New Zealand is a journey back in time. "New Zealand is as close as we will get to studying life on another planet" - Jared Diamond, US Ecologist.

As an island situated at the bottom of the world, New Zealand is isolated, and has been isolated for a very long time. The current scientific understanding is that the land mass of this country was originally joined to Australia, New Caledonia, and New Guinea about 80 million years ago. But then, due to the natural process of continental drift, New Zealand broke away from these other land masses, thereby sending it down a unique evolutionary path. Tellingly, this great separation occurred before many of the modern land mammals had evolved, resulting in a land mass unpopulated by any modern land mammals, apart from a bat species.

The timing of this separation has had a profound effect on the nature of New Zealand. Where mammals dominated the fauna of other land masses, birds dominated here, filling every niche from fierce predator, to forest floor scavenger. The lack of competition led many of our birds to evolve into flightless species. The best known of these, and the one to lend its name to many of our iconic features is of course the Kiwi.

The long isolation has also given rise to an inordinate number of endemic plants. Plant life has evolved in the absence of browsing mammals, further enhancing a unique evolutionary path. 93% of our alpine plants are endemic, over 80 % of the flowering plants occur nowhere else in the world, and our mighty podocarp forests have a lineage that stretches back 200 million years.

Orientated on a north south axis, New Zealand is very compact yet spans a wide range of climactic conditions. A tour that runs in this direction can, in a very short period of time, experience all of these conditions, and the unique features of nature that they have promoted. The unique natural history of this country is well known and valued by New Zealand Government. The Department of Conservation runs cutting edge programs to conserve the remaining unique inhabitants of these islands. The also closely monitor and control tour operators through their Concession process in the hope of further enhancing the nature experience for all visitors.

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