National Parks feature on new stamps

Waimarino Bulletin, Volume 5, Issue 1, 3 June 1987, Page 13

National Parks feature on new stamps

Tongariro National Park is the subject of one of four new stamps which are to be issued on June 17. The four stamps feature Urewera National Park (70c), Mount Cook National Park (80c), Fiordland National Park (85c) and Tongariro National Park ($1.30). A miniature sheet including the Tongariro National Park stamp will also be available at a cost of $1.70, with the surcharge of 40c on each sheet going to support the World Philatelic Exhibition, "New Zealand 1990" in Auckland. Designer, Tracey Purkis of Paraparaumu, has used an original lino-cut technique to present a scene from each park together with a sidebox showing a typical plant on each stamp, tussock (Tongariro), a fern leaf (Urewera), a buttercup (Mount Cook) and a

pineapple shrub (Fiordland). The concept of reserving land for public use can be traced back to the 1840s when it was included in Royal instructions to New Zealand Governor, William Hobson. During the following years a policy of land preservation was pursued under various pieces of general and special legislation. The centennial this year commemorates the beginnings of New Zealand's present national park system in 1887 when Te Heuheu Tukino, paramount chief of Ngati Tuwharetoa, presented the Crown with a block of land surrounding three volcanic peaks in the centre of the North Island. The Ngati Tuwharetoa tribe occupied the Taupo area, and their land included the three mountains of Tongariro, Ngauruhoe and Ruapehu. The flanks of the

mountains had been leased to European settlers as sheep runs. It was feared that the traditional tapu associated with Tongariro might be ignored or broken. Te Heuheu and many of his chiefs decided to give the mountaintops to the people of New Zealand as a national park, and on September 23, 1887, he signed them over on behalf of his people. In 1894 the New Zealand Government passed legislation formally establishing Tongariro National Park. By 1964 ten national parks had been established: Tongariro, Egmont, Fiordland, Arthur's Pass, Abel Tasman, Mount Cook, Urewera, Nelson Lakes, Westland and Mount Aspiring. Then in 1986 an eleventh park was created, the Whanganui National Park, based on lands

around the Wanganui River. The New Zealand National Park stamp issue was printed in Australia by Leigh-Mardon Pty Ltd using lithography. Each stamp is of vertical format, measuring 29.5mm x 35mm. The stamps are printed on sheets of 50 (five rows of 10). Unaddressed First Day Covers, also designed by Tracey Purkis, are available at a cost of $3.82.