The West Coast is very scenic, with wild coastlines, mountains, and a very high proportion of native bush, much of it native temperate rain forest. The West Coast is the only part of New Zealand where significant tracts of lowland native forest remain. To the west is the notoriously rough and exposed Tasman Sea, and the Southern Alps are to the east. Much of the land is rugged, although there are coastal plains around which much of the population resides.