The broadleaf evergreen southern rata (Metrosideros umbellata) and kamahi (Weinmannia racemosa) are found in the central hill country and in The Catlins.

[2] Tussock grasslands occurred naturally, and expanded into large areas where the forests were burned or cleared.

[2] Native birds include the yellow-eyed penguin (Megadyptes antipodes), yellowhead or mōhua (Mohoua ochrocephala), and New Zealand rock wren (Xenicus gilviventris).

In New Zealand birds were the largest land animals, and several species of flightless moa inhabited the ecoregion, along with Haast's eagle (Hieraaetus moorei), the flightless New Zealand swan (Cygnus sumnerensis) and the South Island goose (Cnemiornis calcitrans).

[2] As populations of large birds and seals dwindled, fishing became an increasingly important source of food for the local Maori and they established kaika or seasonal camps, along the shoreline.

In the second half of the 19th century farmers and loggers settled the region, and sawmilling became an important local industry.

Over the past several decades a network of protected areas has been established to preserve several remaining blocks of upland forest and coastal wetland habitat.

Logging, land clearance for development, and introduced exotic species remain threats to the ecoregion's biodiversity.