The site usually attracts more than 100,000 visitors a year. Photo: Supplied / DOC
A Canterbury hapū says a series of upgrades to reflect the cultural significance of Kura Tawhiti has been decades in the works.
Three large pou whenua were unveiled at the site of the striking limestone formations, also known as Castle Hill, in a ceremony on Tuesday.
The site on the highway between Christchurch and Arthur's Pass draws more than 100,000 visitors a year, the Department of Conservation said.
The upgrade includes new plantings, a loop walking track, shelter, and interpretation panels that tell the story of local hapū, Ngāi Tūāhuriri.
Kura Tawhiti holds great cultural significance for Ngāi Tūāhuriri, and was one of 14 tōpuni sites of importance recognised in the Ngāi Tahu treaty settlement.
Rūnanga spokesperson Joseph Hullen said "from the original designation of tōpuni status as a result of the Ngāi Tahu settlement to today - in excess of 20 years, it has been a little while".
The pou whenua represented ancestors with a connection to Kura Tawhiti, which means 'treasure from a distant land': Tawhitinui and his sons Tūrākautahi and Tāne Tiki, Hullen said.
The three marched along the peaks in the Torlesse Range, and created a mahinga kai for the nearby kākāpō.
"They wanted to decorate or clothe their daughters with the skins and their feathers," Hullen said.
The pou whenua represented ancestors with a connection to Kura Tawhiti, which means 'treasure from a distant land'. Photo: Supplied / DOC
Department of Conservation operations manager for the eastern South Island Jo Macpherson said the upgrades underlined that significance.
"The site itself is really fragile, the ecosystem, and we've done some reformation of some of the tracks, plantings, and then there's the work around the pou whenua," Macpherson said.
"All of this combination will help protect the ecosystem and the values of the site."
Hullen said he hoped it would help show the site's significance, and encourage visitors to care for it.
"We're hoping that the presence of the pou and the interpretations indicate to people that this is an issue site.
"Previously there were issues at play with toileting in inappropriate places and graffiti, because limestone is very soft."
But Hullen said he also hoped it would throw a korowai of rangatiratanga and protection over Kura Tawhiti.
"An opportunity for our tamariki mokopuna to recognise that they are present in the landscape. An opportunity for our place-based storytelling to teach our purakau, our histories and whakapapa so they understand where they've come from.
"To know where you need to go, you need first to know where you've been."