TONGARIRO NATIONAL PARK
Tongariro National Park, national park in New Zealand in the central region of North Island. Established in 1887, Tongariro is New Zealand’s oldest national park and the fourth oldest in the world (after Yellowstone in the United States, Royal in Australia, and Yoho in Canada). The park covers a mountainous 7960 sq km (3073 sq mi) in the Tongariro and Wanganui districts. Three large volcanoes dominate the park. Mount Tongariro (Maori for “fire carried away”) is 1967 m (6453 ft) high and has craters that are occasionally active. Mount Ngauruhoe, at 2287 m (7503 ft), is the park’s most active volcano. Mount Ruapehu, (2,797 m/9,177 ft) high, is the highest peak on North Island. Ruapehu and three smaller volcanoes are popular with skiers in the winter. Many of the park’s mountains are forested with hardwood trees and varieties of beech.
Tongariro was the ancestral home of the Ngati Tuwharetoa, who are believed to have been the first Maori to arrive in New Zealand from Polynesia, some time before the year 1300. In 1887 Te Heuheu Tukino IV, then chief of the Ngati Tuwharetoa, gave the three large volcanoes, long held sacred by his people, to the New Zealand government to protect them from European development. Tongariro National Park was created the same year. The land transfer is believed to be the first time a native people asked a modern state for such protection. The park was named a World Heritage Site by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) in 1990. UNESCO’s World Heritage list recognizes the world’s unique natural and cultural places.
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