Lord of the Rings land joins conservation list
15 Apr 2008
New Zealand farmland made famous in the Lord of the Rings films is being protected as a conservation park.
The New Zealand government has bought 21,000 hectares of the Mesopotamia station at the foot of the Southern Alps in the South Island.
The high-country station was the location for the Middle-Earth city of Edoras in Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings films.
The scenic landscape includes alpine screes, tussock grasslands, shrublands and beech forest. Several threatened birds also live in the area.
The deal was done as part of the government's tenure review process, aiming to protect beautiful landscapes with high conservation values. The purchase has also added 25km to the Te Araroa walking track that will eventually run the length of New Zealand.
The current leaseholders, the Prouting family, will freehold the most productive 5200 hectares of the farm, most of which was on flat and rolling land next to the Rangitata River. The Proutings have also been granted a 20-year tourism, filming and photography non-exclusive concession over the new conservation land.
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