One of the world’s most iconic long-distance walking trails is at risk due to boggy conditions and high footfall, campaigners have said. The Te Araroa trail (or “long pathway”) is a 3,000-km walking route, running the entire length of New Zealand, from Cape Reinga in the north to Bluff in the south. Officially opened in 2011, it brought together existing tracks and new legs, providing visitors and residents the chance to traverse the country’s diverse landscapes and communities on foot.
But nearly 15 years after its launch, one section of the walk in particular is causing concern. In Southland’s Longwoods, an over 23,000-hectare area of formerly undiscovered backcountry mainly known to gold miners from the mid-19th to mid-20th century, has become such a draw for walkers that its fragile habitat of hills and native bushland is turning to bog.
Te Araroa Trust executive director Matt Claridge has described “severe degradation due to boggy conditions and increasing walker numbers.” The area has developed such a reputation as one of the toughest parts of the long-distance challenge that some visitors are even now skipping that section altogether.
Images published on social media show walkers up to their shins in wet mud or straddling waterways that have replaced paths, alongside an appeal for help. “If you’ve walked this section of Te Araroa, you know THE MUD – the thick, exhausting, knee-deep bog that’s become one of the toughest parts of the entire trail,” a Facebook post explains, continuing: “What many people don’t see is the environmental impact underneath it all. To avoid the mud, walkers are stepping wider and wider, the bog is spreading, fragile plant life is dying, the trail is degrading, and the ecosystem can’t recover.”
To rectify the situation, protect the ecosystem and allow walkers to continue to enjoy the trail, partial funding of $118,000 (around €57,000) has already been secured through the Department of Conservation and the Back Country Trust, starting with a one-kilometre stretch of environmentally-friendly boardwalk and minor detour to protect the wetlands, as well as a refurb of the Turnball Hut refuge. But, the appeal organisers say, approximately $30,000 (€15,000) more is required before construction can begin.
At the time of writing, the appeal has raised $11,665 (€5,700) and the website is inviting further contributions to “enhance the safety, enjoyment, and protect the heritage of this section. No more knee-deep mud, just a defined, elevated path through stunning native forest.”
