About the forest

Today the Redwoods and Whakarewarewa Forest is an important feature of the Rotorua landscape providing an exquisite backdrop to Rotorua city. The forest is also an amazing and convenient recreational resource for the community and a draw card for tourists who enjoy the outdoors.

However there is much more to the forest than recreation alone. Local Maori have an affiliation with the land in this area and it is steeped with historical meaning.

Development of the forest over time has also played an important role in the New Zealand forest industry and continues to do so with the greater part of the forest being a productive plantation forest, where all facets of the plantation management cycle can be seen from time to time.

A brief look into the history of the forest…