A new report has given trampers, swimmers, mountain bikers, anglers, hunters, horse-riders, and other outdoors enthusiasts an unprecedented snapshot of public outdoor access in Aotearoa.
The Outdoor Access Commission, Herenga ā Nuku Aotearoa, has today published its “state of the nation” report, titled State of Public Outdoor Access 2026.
Chief executive Dan Wildy says the report is significant, as the first annual opportunity for people to examine whether the access we have to New Zealand’s outdoors is as free, certain, enduring, practical and inclusive as it should be.
“This is crucial, because public outdoor access is good for mental and physical health, wellbeing, community connections, the environment and the economy.”
Public access wins
The baseline created by the report is an important step toward safeguarding and enhancing public access for future generations. Wildy says.
“It invites all of us-government agencies, councils, tangata whenua, landowners, and community groups-to consider where we can work together to improve access.”
Recent successes identified in the report include:
– An economic boom from the growth of cycleways
– The signing of the Department of Conservation’s Hunting and Fishing Charter
– Access wins at a grassroots level thanks to locals working together
– The rebuilding of the Commission’s mapping system to provide a much more comprehensive, accurate and detailed view of where public access exists.
Detailed data
Among the data in the report is that while the North Island has about three-quarters of New Zealand’s population, it has only about a quarter of its publicly accessible land
[1] .
Another example is that South Island and Stewart Island also have 61% of the country’s unformed legal roads or “paper roads” – an essential source of permanent legal public access.
The purpose of including this type of information is to encourage New Zealanders to think and act on where public access needs enhancement, Wildy says.
“We can’t change the fact that Auckland, for example, doesn’t border Fiordland. But when we have a clear picture of where the demand for public access is, we can see where best to focus our efforts.”
The Pukekohe Five Summits Walk is a notable example of a local community group working to create important public access for its large urban population, he says.
The level of data in the report is unique, Wildy says.
The report breaks down the data by region, which is also a first for the Commission.
Regional insights include:
1. Northland is the region with the:
– North Island’s second-largest area of unformed legal roads (6,924 ha – after Manawatū/Whanganui, with 9,565 ha)
2. Auckland is the region with the:
– Highest percentage of land in private hands (80%)
3. Waikato is the region with the:
– North Island’s largest area in reserves (63,927 ha)
4. Bay of Plenty is the region with the
– North Island’s largest percentage of land owned by the State (37%)
5. Gisborne is the region with the:
– Largest percentage of Māori land
[2] (22.9%)
6. Hawke’s Bay is the region with the:
– Lowest-equal percentage of land owned by the State (17%; equal with Gisborne)
7. Taranaki is the region with the:
– Third-highest percentage in private hands (73%, after Auckland with 80%, and Northland with 74%)
8. Manawatū/Whanganui is the region with the:
– North Island’s largest amount of publicly accessible conservation land (371,292 ha)
9. Wellington is the region with the:
– Smallest area in unformed legal roads (1,892 ha)
10. Nelson/Tasman is the region with the:
– Most land categorised as “other publicly accessible areas” – that is, not conservation land, reserves, or roads. For instance, some Queen Elizabeth II National Trust (QEII) Open Space Covenants. (30,175 ha)
11. Marlborough is the region with the:
– Largest land area in reserves (221,138 ha)
12. West Coast is the region with the:
– Largest area of publicly accessible conservation land (1,864,204 ha)
13. Canterbury is the region with the:
– Largest area in formed and unformed legal roads, combined (40,959 ha)
14. Otago is the region with the:
– Largest area in unformed legal roads (16,899 ha)
15. Southland is the region with the:
– Second-highest amount of publicly accessible conservation land (1,813,360 ha, after West Coast – see above).
Challenges
The report also initiates a discussion about addressing public access challenges.
One challenge is that some publicly accessible land is not visible on digital maps because it is only recorded on physical survey maps, which have not yet been added to the digital cadastre.
Another is the lack of a national framework and fund specifically designed to assess and acquire public access. With this type of focus, easements or covenants could be secured, enhancing the reach and value of outdoor access for all to enjoy.
“Over the years to come, we want iterations of this report to help New Zealanders find ways to rise to these and other types of public access challenges,” Dan Wildy says.
Opportunities
The report concludes with suggestions for how New Zealanders can continue to support public access, including giving local communities more control over their walkways, exploring the enhancement of public access through investment processes, promoting public access in forests, and digitising more public access parcels.
[1] Data sources used in the report, and for this release: Stats NZ – Census 2023 (population, regional boundaries);
LINZ – Central Record of State Land dataset, July 2025 (state-owned land);
Te Puni Kokiri – Māori Land Court Data, 2022;
Outdoor Access Commission – PAA, October 2025 (publicly accessible conservation land, reserves, formed roads and unformed legal roads).
[2] Land held under Te Ture Whenua Māori Act / Māori Land Act 1993.
