Stuff
Tourists stream across the busy Tongariro Crossing on Easter Sunday, when queues for toilets stretched to the dozens. (File photo)
Is the view from the top of Mount Tongariro just as special if you’re sharing it, elbow to elbow, with thousands of other people?
When Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment Simon Upton released his second report into tourism’s environmental effects this week, the “wildness and quiet” of conservation land was a key issue.
“A sense of wildness and natural quiet are defining characteristics of New Zealand’s conservation lands and waters,” his report reads. “For many people, encountering these qualities is the main motivation for visiting a natural area.”