 The national park was officially opened by the Governor General Lord Gowrie in 1937, although the wilderness area was recognised for its beauty as early as the 1920s.New England National Park (NENP) was World Heritage listed in 1986 and forms part of the New England Group of the Gondwana Rainforests of Australia (previously the Central Eastern Rainforest Reserves of Australia) (CERRA).The Gondwana Rainforests of Australia was added to the Australian National Heritage List in 2007.