Higher elevation areas of the peninsula and mainlands are predominantly a warm lowlands pūriri forest.

[3] Parau is close to the site of the 1740s battle between Te Taoū hapū of Ngāti Whātua and Kiwi Tāmaki of Waiohua (now underneath the Lower Nihotupu Reservoir).

[7] In the early 20th century, Duff Laing continued to run a dairy farm in the area, and the Flemish-Belgian De Brabandere family ran a sheep and dairy farm owned by the Flemish-Belgian De Brabandere family.

[9] In the mid-1910s, construction began on Upper Nihotupu Dam, leading Parau to develop as an area where workers families settled.

[10] The dam finished construction in 1923, after which Parau became popular with holidaymakers and retirees, when many of the workers families left.

[12] The Big Muddy Creek and Huia valleys reforested in native bush, which impressed residents and sparked much of the movement for the formation of a nature reserve.

[12] This dam, much closer to the township, flooded most of the flat land where the Laing farm had previously been located.

The results were 90.2% European (Pākehā); 8.6% Māori; 6.1% Pasifika; 6.1% Asian; 1.2% Middle Eastern, Latin American and African New Zealanders (MELAA); and 4.9% other, which includes people giving their ethnicity as "New Zealander".