Browns Island Recreation Reserve

  The island has been an important part of Auckland's early history. Historic sites cover much of the island and include Maori pa sites, gardens and settlements, in some cases several hundred years old. Other sites are associated with early European settlement. Motukorea is a taonga (treasure) with many special places. The tangata whenua of Motukorea have a spiritual, cultural and historical relationship with their taonga. Motukorea is a public reserve managed by DOC and Auckland Council to protect its unique historical landscape and volcanic features. It will be included in a conservation management plan alongside Rangitoto, Motutapu and Motuihe as part of the Ngā Mana Whenua o Tāmaki Makaurau Collective Redress Act 2014. Motukorea/Browns Island is considered to be one of the least modified of the Auckland volcanic cones.  It is hard to imagine now that Motukorea was once extensively settled and cultivated by Maori. Remains of stone-walled gardens, still in use when the first Europeans visited in 1820, can be seen in the valley southeast of the cone. Sites of former campsites and settlements cover much of the island, the earliest dating back 500-800 years.