Tongariro National Park was granted dual World Heritage status, for its outstanding natural features and the cultural importance the peaks and rivers represent to the local Maori, the area was designated a National Park on 23rd September 1887, Te Heuheu, Paramount Chief of the Ngati Tuiwharetoa people, gifted 2,630ha of the central volcano area to the New Zealand Government, including the summits of Tongariro, Ngauruhoe and Ruapehu. His move secured the mountains for all people, for all time.