Sugar Loaf Islands

Sugar Loaf Islands
Ngā Motu ("The islands" in Māori)
A view from land of two of the close Sugar Loaf Islands in the foreground, with the closest, Round Rock, a sea stack, not separated from the land by water. A third island, Saddleback (Motumahanga), is visible in the distance out to sea.
Seagull Rock and Round Rock, with Saddleback in the background
Map
Geography
Locationnear Port Taranaki
Coordinates39°2′58″S 174°1′40″E / 39.04944°S 174.02778°E / -39.04944; 174.02778
Administration
Demographics
Population0

The Sugar Loaf Islands (often Sugarloaf; Māori: Ngā Motu, lit. 'the islands') are a collection of five small uninhabited islands and several sea stacks near Port Taranaki, New Zealand.

The largest, Moturoa Island, covers approximately 1.4 hectares (3.5 acres). Motumahanga is the island farthest from shore, at approximately 1.5 kilometres (0.93 miles).

Ngā Motu was one of the first areas inhabited by descendants of Te Whiti o Rongomai, and the islands and reefs were all named by the Ngāti Te Whiti iwi.[1] The island group was given its English name in 1770 by James Cook because they reminded him of the way sugar was stored in heaps in Europe.[2]

The Sugar Loaf Islands Marine Protected Area (SLIMPA) was established in 1991 to protect the area from oil exploration. This strengthened the protection that had been in place since the formation of a marine park in 1986.

In 2013 New Plymouth District Council unanimously agreed to gift the protected area back to the government for treaty settlement negotiations with Taranaki and Te Āti Awa iwi.[2]

  1. ^ "About Us – Ngāti Te Whiti". Retrieved 2019-08-30.
  2. ^ a b "Council to hand back Sugar Loaf Islands". 13 March 2013.