Tongariro National Park is the oldest national park in New Zealand, located in the central North Island. It has been acknowledged by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site of mixed cultural and natural values.
Mahuia River, Tongariro National Park
Tongariro deed of gift between Te Heuheu Tūkino IV of Ngāti Tūwharetoa and the Crown (1887)
Sunrise on Tongariro National Park
Panorama of Mount Ruapehu and Mount Ngauruhoe looking west from the Desert Road in January 2015
A national park is a natural park in use for conservation purposes, created and protected by national governments. Often it is a reserve of natural, semi-natural, or developed land that a government declares or owns. Although individual countries designate their own national parks differently, there is a common idea: the conservation of 'wild nature' for posterity and as a symbol of national pride. National parks are almost always open to visitors.
Bogd Khan Uul National Park in Mongolia is one of the earliest preserved areas now called a national park.
National parks often allow protected species to flourish. Pictured are Alpine ibexes (Capra ibex) in the Gran Paradiso National Park, Piedmont, Italy. The Ibex population increased tenfold since the area was declared a national park in 1922.
Landscapes of the Koli National Park in North Karelia, Finland, have inspired many painters and composers, e.g. Jean Sibelius, Juhani Aho and Eero Järnefelt.
Manuel Antonio National Park in Costa Rica was listed by Forbes as one of the world's 12 most beautiful national parks.