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The site of the last battle of the Northern War is one of five Department of Conservation sites to win an international Green Flag.
The award is likely to increase visits to Ruapekapeka Pa by New Zealand and overseas visitors.
Te Ruapekapeka Trust, which represents Ngati Manu, Ngati Kahukuri, Ngati Hau, Ngati Hine, Te Kapotai and Ngapuhi Nui Tonu, has welcomed the award.
The trust administers the pa in partnership with the DoC.
The pa southeast of Kawakawa, which is considered a masterpiece of Maori military engineering, was designed by Ngati Hine rangatira Te Ruki Kawiti in 1845.
On New Year’s Day 1846 it was attacked by a force of about 1600 British colonial forces and their Maori allies, who had marched through from Whangaruru Harbour.
The 400 defenders held out against a sustained artillery attack for 10 days, but the British entered on January 11 while the defenders were at prayer in the bush behind the pa.
The area, which was taken by the Crown under the Public Works Act in 1914 and is subject to a Waitangi Tribunal claim, has been extensively restored over the past decade.
The Green Flag awards were established in the United Kingdom in 1996 to recognise green spaces with high heritage and community values.
They are administered here by the Parks Forum, which includes the DoC and local authorities in New Zealand and Australia.
Other DoC sites given Green Flags this year include Lake Matheson Walk, near Fox Glacier Village, Ship Creek in Haast, Ruakuri Walk in Waitomo and Wairongomai in the Bay of Plenty
Copyright © 2014, UMA Broadcasting Ltd
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