Kaingaroa Forest facts for kids
Kaingaroa Forest is a huge forest in the Bay of Plenty Region of New Zealand. It covers about 2,900 square kilometers. This makes it the biggest planted forest in New Zealand. It is also the second largest in the Southern Hemisphere.
The forest stretches from Lake Taupō in the south to Kawerau in the north. It is home to around 20 million trees. The main office for the forest is in a small town called Kaingaroa, Bay of Plenty. This town is about 50 kilometers southeast of Rotorua. Before trees were planted, this area was a flat land with grass and bushes. It was formed from volcanic ash.
The name Kāingaroa means "long area of land" in Māori. This translation comes from the New Zealand Ministry for Culture and Heritage.
Contents
History of Kaingaroa Forest
When the Forest Was Planted
The first trees in Kaingaroa Forest were planted in the late 1920s. The New Zealand government owned the forest at that time. They started planting small test areas in 1901. They used trees like douglas fir and radiata pine. From 1906, prisoners from Waiotapu helped with the planting. By 1932, some of these pines were very tall. They were about 39 meters high and 0.6 meters wide. Later, more trees were planted to help people who didn't have jobs. When the government owned it, the forest was called the Kaingaroa State Forest.
Who Owns the Forest Land Today?
In the 1980s, the government wanted to sell the forest to private companies. But several Māori iwi (tribes) went to court. They said they were the original owners of the land. They argued that the land had been taken from them unfairly. They wanted the government to keep the land until their claims were settled.
It took 20 years to sort out these claims. On July 1, 2009, the forest land was given back to a group of Māori tribes. This was part of a deal to settle their claims. These claims were about the Crown (the government) breaking the Treaty of Waitangi. The trees in the forest are still owned by a private company. This company is called Kaingaroa Timberlands Ltd. They have a special agreement to use the land for forestry.
New Zealand State Highway 38 goes through the forest. This road connects Wai-O-Tapu to Murupara.
Climate in Kaingaroa Forest
| Climate data for Kaingaroa Forest, elevation 544 m (1,785 ft), (1981–2010 normals, extremes 1951–1999) | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Record high °C (°F) | 31.7 (89.1) |
30.7 (87.3) |
29.0 (84.2) |
26.2 (79.2) |
23.7 (74.7) |
18.3 (64.9) |
17.8 (64.0) |
17.8 (64.0) |
23.4 (74.1) |
26.7 (80.1) |
28.0 (82.4) |
29.4 (84.9) |
31.7 (89.1) |
| Mean maximum °C (°F) | 27.1 (80.8) |
26.4 (79.5) |
23.4 (74.1) |
20.1 (68.2) |
17.6 (63.7) |
14.7 (58.5) |
13.3 (55.9) |
14.3 (57.7) |
16.6 (61.9) |
20.0 (68.0) |
23.2 (73.8) |
25.0 (77.0) |
27.8 (82.0) |
| Mean daily maximum °C (°F) | 21.6 (70.9) |
21.6 (70.9) |
19.6 (67.3) |
16.5 (61.7) |
13.3 (55.9) |
10.9 (51.6) |
10.3 (50.5) |
11.2 (52.2) |
13.5 (56.3) |
15.5 (59.9) |
18.0 (64.4) |
20.1 (68.2) |
16.0 (60.8) |
| Daily mean °C (°F) | 16.1 (61.0) |
16.3 (61.3) |
14.1 (57.4) |
11.1 (52.0) |
8.4 (47.1) |
6.4 (43.5) |
5.7 (42.3) |
6.5 (43.7) |
8.4 (47.1) |
10.4 (50.7) |
12.4 (54.3) |
14.8 (58.6) |
10.9 (51.6) |
| Mean daily minimum °C (°F) | 10.5 (50.9) |
10.9 (51.6) |
8.5 (47.3) |
5.7 (42.3) |
3.6 (38.5) |
2.0 (35.6) |
1.1 (34.0) |
1.7 (35.1) |
3.3 (37.9) |
5.4 (41.7) |
6.9 (44.4) |
9.5 (49.1) |
5.8 (42.4) |
| Mean minimum °C (°F) | 3.3 (37.9) |
3.9 (39.0) |
−0.1 (31.8) |
−2.1 (28.2) |
−3.3 (26.1) |
−4.6 (23.7) |
−4.9 (23.2) |
−4.7 (23.5) |
−3.2 (26.2) |
−0.8 (30.6) |
0.6 (33.1) |
2.8 (37.0) |
−5.8 (21.6) |
| Record low °C (°F) | 0.2 (32.4) |
0.8 (33.4) |
−6.0 (21.2) |
−4.8 (23.4) |
−7.0 (19.4) |
−7.7 (18.1) |
−9.4 (15.1) |
−7.3 (18.9) |
−5.6 (21.9) |
−5.8 (21.6) |
−1.9 (28.6) |
−0.8 (30.6) |
−9.4 (15.1) |
| Average rainfall mm (inches) | 90.6 (3.57) |
91.2 (3.59) |
119.3 (4.70) |
136.9 (5.39) |
113.5 (4.47) |
148.8 (5.86) |
142.2 (5.60) |
109.8 (4.32) |
139.3 (5.48) |
109.7 (4.32) |
94.5 (3.72) |
119.7 (4.71) |
1,415.5 (55.73) |
| Source: NIWA (rain 1991–2020) | |||||||||||||
