The Ruapekapeka Pa site has been awarded the international tourism Green Flag Award for the second year in a row.
The high Northland pa site, from where Maori chief Kawiti held off a siege by the British Army, is famous in military strategy history for its networks of trenches, bunkers, tunnels and fortifications.
The location of the last battle of the Northern Wars, in 1845-46, between the British Crown and Maori, Te Ruapekapeka Pa has been recognised nationally and internationally for that warfare engineering feat.
The story of how, when the pa was breached by British cannon fire, the Maori forces slipped away under cover of the night into the forest - with Kawiti claiming neither side had won and predicting that the next war would be on paper - is also famous.
These days Te Ruapekapeka Trust works with the Department of Conservation to protect and preserve the pa and battlefield, and is planning to extend archaeological work at the site.
