The paramount chief of Tuwharetoa has been appointed to chair the United Nations' World Heritage Committee.
The conservation organisation announced Tumu Te Heuheu (Te Heuheu Tukino VIII) as its new chairman following a meeting in Lithuania on Sunday.
Prime Minister Helen Clark has congratulated Te Heuheu on what she says is a "momentous achievement."
"The UNESCO World Heritage Committee is an extremely important international conservation organisation. It chooses, funds and monitors the caring of World Heritage areas, some of the planet's most special species," says Clark.
Maori Affairs Minister Parekura Horomia said Te Heuheu's selection was a fantastic milestone for Maori, and one where history had travelled a full circle.
"Tumu Te Heuheu's ancestor, Horonuku Patatai (Te Hueheu Tukino IV) gifted the mountains to the south of Lake Taupo to the New Zealand government in 1887 for a national park," says Horomia. "Today the original 2,640 hectares is now approximately 79,598 hectares and known throughout the world as Tongariro National Park."
The park was listed as a world heritage area in 1990.
The World Heritage Committee is set to hold their next session
in Christchurch next year.
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