Bay of Plenty

The Bay of Plenty (Māori: Te Moana-a-Toi), often abbreviated to BoP, is a region in the North Island situated around the body of water of the same name. The bay was named by James Cook after he noticed the abundant food supplies at several Māori villages there, in stark contrast to the earlier observations he had made in Poverty Bay.

According to local Māori traditions, the Bay of Plenty was the landing point of several migration canoes that brought Māori settlers to New Zealand. These include the Mataatua, Nukutere, Tākitimu and Arawa canoes, as well as the Tainui canoe. Many of the descendent iwi maintain their traditional homelands (rohe) in the region, including Te Whānau-ā-Apanui, Te Whakatōhea, Ngāi Tai, Ngāi Tūhoe, Ngāti Awa, Ngāti Tūwharetoa ki Kawerau, Te Arawa, Ngāi Te Rangi, Ngāti Ranginui and Ngāti Pūkenga.^[5] Early Māori settlement gave rise to many regional town and city names used today.

Geography

It extends 12 nautical miles from the mainland coastline, and also extends from the coastlines of several islands in the bay, notably Mayor Island/Tuhua, Motiti Island, Whale Island and the active volcano of Whakaari/White Island. The region extends inland to the sparsely populated forest lands around Rotorua and Murupara.

Much of the central part of the region lies within the Taupo Volcanic Zone, which extends from the centre of the North Island northwards to Whakaari/White Island. Volcanic mountains and lakes, geothermal areas and geological fault lines all dot the landscape.

Prominent mountains in the region include Mount Maunganui, Mount Tarawera and Mount Edgecumbe/Putauaki, which also have cultural significance to local Māori. The Kaimai and Mamaku mountain ranges lie at the western border of the region. Swamp land was formerly concentrated around a number of rivers in the region, but much of this was dredged in the early part of the 20th century to increase land for settlement and other uses.^[5] Large native and foreign (planted) forest areas are found in the inland parts of the region. The Kaingaroa Forest is the world’s largest planted forest, comprising Radiata Pine mainly used for timber.