New Zealand Conservation Environment Programme protects exceptional tramping hiking backpacking trails in backcountry New Zealand. New Zealand has had a long tradition of access to outdoor recreation, to a largely undeveloped back country and to extensive areas of uncrowded natural environments; outdoor recreational land is plentiful by most countries' standards. Substantial areas of largely unmodified country are vested in the Crown as public lands, in the form of National Parks, Forest Parks and a variety of other Reserves, a Conservation Estate that is almost completely uninhabited. The first National Park was established in 1887 and very large areas of largely unmodified country continue to be added to the system. The latest National Park, Kahurangi, in the north west of the South Island, is the country's second largest, and was opened in 1996.

Not only is the Conservation Estate large, it is also widely distributed, although a considerable part lies along the alpine spine of the South Island and is thus remote from the growing population focus of the northern North Island. Virtually all Crown Land is open to unconstrained public access; only some scientific and nature conservation areas are closed and these are only a very small proportion of the total. Additionally, substantial areas of open High Country grassland, usually held as Crown Pastoral leases, have traditionally been open to recreationists. The twenty metre marginal strip that borders almost all rivers, streams and lakes, the so-called Queen's Chain, has also provided extensive recreational areas and important access routes.

Create A Safe Environment Exploring the New Zealand Backcountry