The rural towns fighting for survival as New Zealand grapples with a growing exodus

Ruapehu is emblematic of question facing New Zealand: how to prevent rural regions – and the country at large - from hollowing out

For generations, two centres of gravity in New Zealand’s central Ruapehu region had enough pull to entice people to the area and keep them there: the mountains and the mills.

Mount Ruapehu, the country’s largest active volcano, lured people to its snowy slopes for work and play, while the local mills – run by the region’s largest employer, Winstone Pulp International – kept generations of families in employment.