Matakana Island

Māori:
Location of Matakana Island.
Geography
Location	Bay of Plenty Region
Coordinates	37°35′S 176°05′E / 37.583°S 176.083°E / -37.583; 176.083
Area	60.7 km2 (23.44 sq mi)
Length	20 km (12 mi)
Width	3 km (1.9 mi)
Country
New Zealand

Matakana Island is located in the western Bay of Plenty in New Zealand's North Island. A long, flat island, it is 20 kilometres (12 mi) in length but rarely more than 3 kilometres (1.9 mi) wide. The island has been continuously populated for centuries by a number Māori tribes that are mostly associated with Ngai Te Rangi. The island has two distinct parts: 5,000 acres (2,023 ha) of farm and orchard land on the inner harbour, (where most of the population lives) and 10,000 acres (4,047 ha) of forest-covered coastal land exposed to the Pacific Ocean.

As of the 2006 census, the island had a population of 225 people, and is the least populated area of the Western Bay of Plenty. There are only 90 inhabited dwellings.^[1] Most persons living on the island belong to the Ratana Church of New Zealand.

The island protects the entrance to the Tauranga harbour and stretches from Athenree to Mount Maunganui. It is largely covered by pine forests.

The island's long, white sandy beach is popular with surfers. Surfers can either catch a water taxi from Mount Maunganui or paddle to the island across the mouth of Tauranga Harbour (depending on weather conditions).

Matakana's surf side is a nesting site for a large number of sea birds, including the endangered New Zealand dotterel.

Between 1993 and 1999 the ownership of Matakana Island's 10,000 acres (4,047 ha) forest and freehold land was in dispute. The case Arklow Investments Limited and Christopher Wingate v I.D. MacLean and others^[2] was appealed the New Zealand High Court to the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council in London.

In 2007 the New Zealand Fisheries Management Research Database recorded and estimated that there were 325 sting rays inhabiting the estuarial waters between Matakana Island and Rangiwaea Island.

Coordinates: 37°35′S 176°05′E / 37.583°S 176.083°E / -37.583; 176.083

See also

• List of islands of New Zealand

References

1. ^ "Census 2006". Western Bay of Plenty District Council. http://www.wbopdc.govt.nz/District/Overview/Census+2006.htm. 
2. ^ "Arklow Investments Limited and Christopher Wingate v I.D. MacLean and others". Judicial Committee of the Privy Council. 1 December 1999. http://www.privy-council.org.uk/files/pdf/JC_Judgments_1999_no_51.pdf. Retrieved 24 August 2010. 

External links

• Last step in Matakana Island pursuit