What VividSouth is

VividSouth is an independent, exploratory map-based guide to Te Waipounamu / New Zealand’s South Island. It combines official geographic, conservation, recreation, infrastructure, and demographic datasets into one interactive map experience.

It is designed to bring dispersed official datasets into a single, readable place-based interface.

VividSouth is built from a personal passion for New Zealand’s South Island: its landscapes, settlements, conservation lands, routes, waterways, and stories. The long-term goal is to create a rich, respectful, visually beautiful guide that connects places, data, stories, and outdoor activities across Te Waipounamu.

Intended use

The app is intended for exploration, planning, discovery, and place-based understanding. It helps users explore regions, territorial authorities, population centres, localities, lakes, rivers, tracks, huts, campsites, roads, protected areas, hunting areas, and other geographic features.

Data Sources Register

Some datasets are filtered, grouped, simplified, clipped to the South Island, or matched to VividSouth’s internal place hierarchy before display.

Copyright, Licensing, and Legal Information

Copyright in VividSouth

Unless otherwise stated, the VividSouth app, including its original design, interface, layout, text, data processing, data organisation, derived classifications, icons, visual presentation, and original code, is copyright © VividSouth. All rights reserved.

No part of VividSouth may be copied, reproduced, redistributed, republished, modified, reverse-engineered, scraped, or used to create a competing product without prior written permission, except where permitted by law or by the licences of the original source datasets.

Third-party and government data

VividSouth uses and transforms data from official and third-party sources, including Stats NZ, LINZ, Department of Conservation Te Papa Atawhai, and Mapbox. Copyright and licensing in those source datasets remain with their respective owners and licensors.

Where government datasets are used, they may be protected by Crown copyright and released under open licences such as Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International, unless otherwise specified by the source agency. VividSouth acknowledges these sources in the Data Sources Register and does not claim ownership over the underlying official datasets.

VividSouth’s use of official data does not imply endorsement, sponsorship, approval, or partnership by Stats NZ, LINZ, Department of Conservation, Mapbox, or any other source organisation.

Data transformation and derived content

Some datasets used in VividSouth have been filtered, clipped, simplified, grouped, deduplicated, matched, classified, or otherwise processed for app display. These app-specific transformations, classifications, mappings, summaries, and presentation choices are part of VividSouth’s original work.

Users should not treat app-derived groupings, classifications, or interpretations as official classifications unless explicitly stated.

Accuracy and no warranty

VividSouth is provided for exploration, planning, discovery, and general information only. While care is taken to use official sources and maintain accurate data, VividSouth is provided “as is” and “as available”, without warranties of any kind, express or implied.

VividSouth does not guarantee that the map, data, boundaries, locations, classifications, routes, facilities, access information, restrictions, conditions, or other content are complete, current, accurate, or suitable for any particular purpose.

Safety, access, and regulatory responsibility

Conditions, access rules, alerts, restrictions, bookings, permits, closures, weather, hazards, track conditions, camping rules, hunting permits and conditions, fishing rules, and other regulatory or operational details can change.

Users must check the relevant official source before travelling, camping, hunting, fishing, entering protected or restricted areas, relying on access information, or making safety-related decisions.

VividSouth must not be used as the sole source for emergency decisions, legal permissions or regulatory compliance, navigation, outdoor safety, or access permissions.

Limitation of liability

To the fullest extent permitted by law, VividSouth is not responsible for any loss, injury, damage, cost, claim, or consequence arising from use of, reliance on, or inability to use the app or its content.

Users are responsible for their own decisions, safety, preparation, permissions, and compliance with applicable laws, regulations, bylaws, permits, and official conditions.

Map and imagery services

VividSouth uses Mapbox services for basemap, terrain, satellite imagery, and interactive map rendering. Mapbox content and services are subject to Mapbox’s own terms, licences, attribution requirements, and availability.

Attribution

VividSouth acknowledges the contribution of official data providers and third-party services listed in the Data Sources Register. Where source data is licensed for reuse, VividSouth’s use is intended to comply with the applicable licence terms, including attribution requirements.

Contact

For questions about data sources, attribution, corrections, bug reports, general inquiries, or permissions, please use the VividSouth contact form.