Tasman District in Brief

Tasman District is a large area, covering 9,786 square kilometres ranging from the Matiri Ranges and Tasman Mountains in the west, to the Spencer Mountains, and the St Arnaud and Richmond Ranges to the east, and from Farewell Spit in the north to the Victoria Ranges in the south. The district's highest point is Mt Franklin, at 2,340 metres.

The landscape is diverse and includes large mountainous areas, valleys and plains and is dissected by major rivers including the Buller, Motueka, Aorere and Takaka Rivers. There is a diverse variety of native flora and fauna, along with golden beaches, the unique 40 kilometre sands of Farewell Spit and a wide variety of fish in the rivers and coastal marine area that extends seaward of the line of mean high water springs to 12 nautical miles offshore.

Tasman is home to three national parks - Abel Tasman (New Zealand's smallest at 22,541 hectares), Nelson Lakes (101,753 hectares) and Kahurangi (452,000 hectares).