Tongariro – a gift to New Zealand and the world

Tongariro National Park – the heart of the Ruapehu District – is not only a special Park for the people of New Zealand, it is also unique in the world. It is recognised by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site under two categories. It is listed because of its unique, active volcanic attributes and also its special cultural significance.

When Horonuku Te Heu Heu Tukino gifted Tongariro to the people of New Zealand, he was also gifting it to the people of the world. The volcanoes of the Park and their glaciers, plants and animals represent a set of landforms and natural communities which have been recognised as outstanding heritage of international significance.

The volcanoes are unique because of the frequency of eruptions, their highly explosive nature, and the high density of active vents. Ruapehu and Tongariro/Ngauruhoe (technically the same volcano) are two of the world’s most continuously active composite volcanoes.

The Park is considered a unique natural laboratory for scientific study and education on volcanoes.

Another outstanding natural feature is the unusual interplay of volcanic and glacial processes on Ruapehu. Its Crater Lake is one of only two of its type in the world where magma and glacial meltwater interact to gives rise to spectacular eruptions.

The Park was given World Heritage status by UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation) in 1990, as a natural site of outstanding universal value. It joined the Grand Canyon, Sagarmatha (Mt Everest) National Park, Kilimanjaro and 350 other World Heritage sites.

The Park is now one of a handful of sites from around the world with dual natural and cultural World Heritage status. It was because of the special cultural significance to Te Heu Heu Tukino’s people, Ngati Tuwharetoa, that they gifted the peaks to the Crown, so that ownership of the land would not be broken up.