Kao

Kao National Park covers Kao island and its surrounding marine environment in the Ha'apai group of Tonga, with an area of 11.47 km². It was established in 2001^[1]. Kao is an uninhabited stratovolcano and the highest point in Tonga.

Kao and neighbouring Tofua form a Key Biodiversity Area important for Tongan populations of the Fiji shrikebill and the blue-crowned lorikeet, and seven of the ten central Polynesian restricted-range bird species occur there. Biodiversity at the site is poorly documented and no seabird records exist^[2].

The park protects undisturbed forest on the volcano's slopes. The wider Tofua and Kao site is classed as 50% forest, 34% shrubland and 16% inland wetlands^[2].

Kao is a stratovolcano rising from the sea in the Ha'apai group, and is the highest point in Tonga. Its neighbour Tofua is an active volcano with a caldera^[2].

Kao lies in the tropical Ha'apai group of central Tonga, in a warm, humid ocean climate.

Kao is uninhabited. Nearby Tofua is where Captain William Bligh was stranded during the 1789 Mutiny on the Bounty^[1].

Kao National Park was established in 2001 together with Tofua National Park, and both are administered by the Forest Division of the Ministry of Environment and Climate Change^[1].

The park is a remote volcano and its surrounding sea, with no developed attractions. Its main interest is the volcanic cone itself, seen from the water.

Kao is about 60 km from Pangai, the main town of Ha'apai, and has no residents, so any visit is by boat from the Ha'apai group.

The Tofua and Kao site is threatened by forest clearing for kava plantations on Tofua, and by invasive feral pigs, dogs, rats and cats that threaten nesting seabirds and forest birds^[2].