Te Pātaka o Rākaihautū / Banks Peninsula’s volcanic and island origins make it a unique and special landform for the diversity of life found upon it, and a hotspot for endemism. The many bays, formed from the volcanics, create sheltered areas with microclimates. Loess, combined with the volcanic soils and a legacy of millions of years of burrowing sea birds, produced rich fertile soils. This combination of natural fertility, high rain fall, sheltered valleys, and added marine nutrients, created perfect conditions on Banks Peninsula for abundant growth and diversity. 

The connection of Te Pātaka o Rākaihautū / Banks Peninsula to the South Island has resulted in an “ecological island”, causing high rates of endemism in both plant and animal species. Many of these have distinct ecological niches, provided by the landscape, marine environments, climate, soils, waters (streams, rivers, springs, and lakes), and rocky outcrops. Rocky outcrops became evermore important in the deforestation and burning of Banks Peninsula, with many of the rocky crags becoming refuges for native species due to their morphology, microclimate, isolation (inaccessible to loggers, and wetter so more resistant to burning), and rock-type (the chemical makeup of rock has a distinct control on what will or will not grow).  It is from these rocky refuges that the reforestation of Banks Peninsula has been focused on and extended from.

The waterways, wetlands, lakes, and estuaries of Banks Peninsula provide unique environments and sanctuaries. Notably the Te Waihora / Lake Ellesmere and Ihutai / Avon – Heathcote Estuary are internationally significant environments and ecological niches for native species and for migratory birds. Offshore, where the braided rivers of the Canterbury Plains reach the sea, murky sediment-filled water creates the perfect environment for the world’s smallest marine dolphin, the Hector’s Dolphin.