In 1995, Far North District Council commissioned a Landscape Assessment of the entire district, some 6820 square kilometres. This assessment identified the outstanding landscape features and landscape units, and distinguished landscapes that are coastal from those that are terrestrial. Those landscape units with a sensitivity rating of 6 or 7 (out of 7) were classified as outstanding, and therefore deemed worthy of protection as required by section 6(b) of the Resource Management Act 1991.
The landscape units identified by the assessment are relatively large areas of terrain that have fairly constant characteristics, whereas the landscape features are smaller elements such as volcanic peaks or prominent coastal land forms.
