Te Pane o Mataoho | Te Ara Pueru | Māngere Mountain

Te Pane o Mataoho | Te Ara Pueru | Māngere Mountain is a significant volcanic feature in the southern part of Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland. The name Māngere refers to the idle breezes, Te Pane o Mataoho means the head of Mataoho, the Māori deity who guards secrets hidden in the earth, and Te Ara Pueru refers to a historic event that took place on the Maunga before European arrival.

The Maunga served as an important defensive pā with heavily terraced slopes and rectangular storage pits for food. Despite some quarrying, it remains the largest and best-preserved of the volcanic features in the southern part of Auckland. It erupted around 50,000 years ago, making it one of the oldest volcanoes in the region, producing a scoria cone standing 105 meters tall, and a unique 12-meter tall conical mound in the centre of the main crater.

In June 2022, a new whānau ātea (community gathering space) construction project began, which will create a destination recreation space for Māngere and the wider region, featuring a renewed skatepark, natural play spaces, Māori star compass field, and more. To ensure visitor safety, all areas associated with the play space project area are closed.

The restoration work for the Maunga involves removing exotic trees and planting around 13,000 new natives to establish a semblance of the native ecosystem. The replanting will enhance sight lines to and from the tihi (summit) and establish a new habitat for native ornate and copper skinks.

Te Pane o Mataoho | Te Ara Pueru | Māngere Mountain is also home to the Māngere Mountain Education Centre, a living museum with access to the Maunga's rich history of Māori settlement over the centuries, guided walks hosted by Mana Whenua, and traditional and medicinal gardens.