Talk:Aoraki / Mount Cook National Park

Not sure of its importance to the article
But would it be interesting to add the logistics of how the crew of The Hobbit crew had to minimize the impact on the vegetation in the area? It's a nice piece showing how well they did to not disturb such an ancient site and still manage to show off its beauty and get the shots they needed for the film.

Warning about the serious nature of mountaineering
I think it would be useful to state
 * 1. the number of deaths that have occurred.
 * 2. that weather conditions are more changeable than say Europe.

as a warning to recreational users.Aaabbb11 (talk) 17:30, 13 March 2015 (UTC)

Good articles about mountains at Mt Cook
I think this article would be worth adding to the external links, because of info it contains. Climbers missing on Aoraki-Mt Cook may never be found Aaabbb11 (talk) 12:09, 14 March 2015 (UTC)

Merge this article with Aoraki / Mount Cook
Copying info between these articles is problematic because of refs. There is lots of overlap between the 2 articles. Sections for Forests and glaciers, Area history, and probably Climate on the Aoraki / Mount Cook article are for the park, rather than the mountain.Aaabbb11 (talk) 19:53, 26 March 2015 (UTC)

Also put this information on Talk:Aoraki_/_Mount_Cook Aaabbb11 (talk) 05:13, 5 April 2015 (UTC)

Dark sky reserve
There ought to be a section on the Dark Sky Reserve.Royalcourtier (talk) 04:21, 9 May 2017 (UTC)
 * Done. Marshelec (talk) 02:12, 28 December 2021 (UTC)

Article format - rework timeline?
The National Parks Taskforce general guidelines suggest that under 'history', there are subtopics Use by Maori, Early Pakeha, Park Establishment etc. The page currently has a timeline, most of which is mountaineering or the Hermitage. The Hermitage has its own page, so this page could have less and link to that? I can't find any article about Mountaineering in New Zealand, but I think there should be one, and this page could just have a paragraph on mountaineering under history or activities. Would anyone mind if I rework the timeline into several paragraphs and disperse its content into other sections? I have some sources about early European access and concerns about the area. Wainuiomartian (talk) 20:35, 26 January 2024 (UTC)


 * The subheadings on the article outline are more intended as a guideline rather than a hard and fast rule. I think it would be worth covering mountaineering and early tourism in some detail, given how significant the area was to the development of both in New Zealand (Mount Cook Airlines, anyone?), which would necessitate a bit of coverage on the Hermitage. With that said, you're right that it can probably be covered in more detail by linking to the main article.
 * Beyond that, totally happy for the timeline to be reworked into prose! Turnagra (talk) 20:59, 26 January 2024 (UTC)

Possible GA review soon
Article looks good, the predicted quality is: GA (5.25). Alexeyevitch (talk) 04:27, 30 January 2024 (UTC)


 * It still needs a section on establishment as a National Park, and possibly geology? Wainuiomartian (talk) 05:42, 30 January 2024 (UTC)
 * It would be good to include a geology section in the article, and I'm happy to help with working on those two needed sections. Alexeyevitch (talk) 05:51, 30 January 2024 (UTC)
 * I think there is still some way to go before it could be ready for a GA review. I offer these suggestions for further work. I prefer to focus on other articles at present, so hope someone will consider these points:


 * 1) a new sub-section is needed on Establishment of the park
 * 2) a brief new sub-section could be usefully added about the designation as a World Heritage Site (along with Fiordland, Mt Aspiring, Westland Tai Poutini National Park).  Move the existing content out of the Geography section and expand
 * 3) a new sub-section in the History section about the significance of the region to Māori, and in particular Ngäi Tahu values in relation to Aoraki/Mt Cook and topics arising from  the Ngai Tahu treaty claims settlement
 * 4) the content about climbing Mt Cook in the section "Early mountaineering" should perhaps be scaled back a bit, but have a "further" template link to the relevant section of the article Aoraki / Mount Cook. Other content should be added about the early history of climbing of other peaks in the park
 * 5) the Geography section needs content re-ordering to make it flow better. Should start with the highest level descriptions and work down into detail.
 * 6) Under Climate, the content "Anyone venturing further than the walking tracks is strongly advised to notify their intentions at the Visitor Centre on the day they start. This is part of a formal intentions process that operates in the park and is used to initiate formal search operations." should be removed - WP:NOTGUIDE
 * 7) it may be useful to add content about the effects of climate change and the retreat of glaciers/ changes to glacier lakes
 * 8) the Geology section should be substantially expanded. There must be more that is worth including. I note that the word "moraine" only features once in the article, under Flora.
 * 9) the Fauna section needs revision, to use common names and not Te Reo names, unless the Te Reo names are the common name (eg kea). However, Te Reo names in brackets would be fine, eg Australasian Harrier (kahu).  Also the description of the kahu as a "large and slim bird" is odd and should be removed.
 * 10) Under Conservation and human interaction, a new sub-section with more content is warranted about the Huts in the park. Some of these huts are probably notable in their own right.
 * 11) Similarly, a new sub-section is warranted about Tourism, given that the park is such a major tourist destination, possibly involving moving some content from other sections. Here is one useful source:
 * 12) I suggest new sub-sections on introduced animals and hunting within the park. I understand that Chamois and Himalayan tahr are a significant threat to alpine ecosystems, and that their numbers are not well-controlled
 * 13) make all convert templates consistent (I prefer abbr=on)
 * 14) find someone who can make a reasonable map of the park to add into the Infobox - or just below it, or if that can't be done, add an external link to a published map of the park, showing the park boundaries against the landscape.

Marshelec (talk) 07:08, 30 January 2024 (UTC)


 * Have you made a map before? I agree that we need a more accurate map in the infobox. Alexeyevitch (talk) 11:06, 30 January 2024 (UTC)
 * For some reason I thought that I had gone through all of the national parks and updated them to interactive maps based on OSM. I've gone and put that in for this one now and can do the others later. Turnagra (talk) 18:00, 30 January 2024 (UTC)
 * I have huts on my to-do list, but I was going to put them under mountaineering. I'll add it somewhere and somebody else can rearrange as desired.
 * Also was going to put in more about Chamois/tahr as pests
 * Tourism (and over-tourisism) is a good idea.
 * Will ask daughter about making a map.
 * Agree, more work needed! Wainuiomartian (talk) 17:49, 30 January 2024 (UTC)
 * ✅. Alexeyevitch (talk) 06:27, 3 February 2024 (UTC)

National Park Management Plan review - consultation draft
A major review of the management plan for the park has been underway for several years. It was paused but appears to be underway again. There are valuable sources at this consultation site, albeit that they represent a draft. See:. Anything useful should be archived at the Internet Archive, just in case it disappears when the consultation closes ! Marshelec (talk) 08:12, 30 January 2024 (UTC)

Lead
Might expand a bit on Te Wāhipounamu and briefly mention the flora and fauna in the national park, per WP:LEAD and WP:BOLD of course. Alexeyevitch (talk) 23:06, 10 February 2024 (UTC)


 * ✅. Alexeyevitch (talk) 07:56, 13 February 2024 (UTC)

Lead Length
I think the lead length is good. I would've added a new paragraph about geology but probably not at this point unless the forth paragraph gets trimmed, I suppose that the geology of the national park is more noteworthy in the lead then the village itself. Alexeyevitch (talk) 07:37, 19 February 2024 (UTC)

Mountaineering section
The first paragraph of the Mountaineering section currently requires review. It has insufficient citations and contains content that is like an essay or guide and needs reworking, replacement or deletion.Marshelec (talk) 00:15, 24 March 2024 (UTC)


 * ✅, I have removed unsourced information and copyedited / added refs to encyclopedic content that should be mentioned. Alexeyevitch (talk) 03:29, 24 March 2024 (UTC)

Coverage of National Park management plan and reviews
I recommend including content in the article about the DOC management plan and the process for review. Although the management plans can be cited as sources for various topics, the plans themselves are worth covering, because they set out important provisions for access, concessions, and a range of other management activities. The draft management plans have also been the subject of controversy, plus there has been a substantial pause in the review of the management plan, as a result of the 2018 Supreme Court decision relating to Ngāi Tai ki Tāmaki. I have added some content about the court decision and its implications here: National parks of New_Zealand.

With regards to Aoraki Mt Cook National Park, here are some sources about the pause, restart and progress of work on the review of the management plan:, , , , , .Marshelec (talk) 18:42, 25 March 2024 (UTC)