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The Waitangi Treaty Grounds and the remains of a voyaging waka at the Chatham Islands are among nine places around the motu that could be added to a list of the top cultural and natural sites on the planet.
The nine outstanding heritage sites have been submitted to the UN’s top cultural body by the Department of Conservation.
If the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) agrees the sites have internationally significance, they could be added to the World Heritage List alongside such wonders such as the Taj Mahal and the Pyramids.
So far New Zealand has just three places on the UNESCO World Heritage List: Tongariro National Park, Te Wāhipounamu South West New Zealand World Heritage Area and the Subantarctic Islands.
Tongariro has combined cultural and natural status while the other two are natural heritage sites.
The possible new additions on the tentative list are:
- Waitangi Treaty Grounds/Te Pitowhenua and Te Tii Marae: The site where New Zealand’s founding document Te Tiriti o Waitangi/The Treaty of Waitangi was first debated and signed in 1840.
- Mataatua Wharenui - Te Mānuka Tūtahi, Whakatāne: A monumental carved meeting house in Whakatāne (Ngāti Awa).
- Te Whare Waiutuutu Kate Sheppard House, Christchurch: The home from which Kate Sheppard led the campaign that helped make New Zealand the first country in the world to grant women the right to vote.
- Parihaka Papakāinga: A historic settlement at the base of Taranaki Maunga and a renowned centre of nonviolent resistance to land confiscation under the leadership of Tohu Kākahi and Te Whiti o Rongomai.
- Te Kauwhanganui Māori Parliament, Morrinsville: A building preserving a rare indigenous parliamentary system, along with the King Mahuta monument and an archive of more than 20,000 documents mostly in te reo Māori.
- Te Hauturu o Toi/Little Barrier Island: One of the world’s most intact temperate island ecosystems, and a powerful example of conservation grounded in science and Indigenous stewardship.
- Tch Tatatei Awanui/Scenic Reserve Wharekauri coastal strip, Chatham Islands: A significant Moriori cultural landscape containing settlement sites, burials and the archaeological remains of the voyaging waka Rangihoua.
- Ngā Tapuwae o Mataaho/Auckland Volcanic Fields: A cultural landscape shaped by Auckland’s volcanoes, deeply associated with Māori history and traditions.
- Kermadec Islands and Marine Reserve: One of the most strictly protected reserves in New Zealand, about 1000km northeast of Cape Reinga.
DOC international manager Sarah Meadows said inclusion on the tentative list was an important first step towards becoming an official World Heritage site.
“World Heritage status is one of the most prestigious international recognitions a place can receive. It’s reserved for sites considered to have outstanding universal value, meaning their significance extends beyond national boundaries and is important to present and future generations around the world.”
Waitangi National Trust Board chairwoman Dame Jenny Shipley said the announcement of the tentative list was a proud moment for the board, for Ngāpuhi and for the nation.
“Waitangi is where two peoples agreed to form a nation bound by the Treaty of Waitangi, our founding document … Waitangi speaks to the world about this exceptional agreement, and about the aspiration and enduring relationships that have followed ever since. The story of Waitangi is of genuine universal value,” she said.
Meadows said the nine sites were chosen by an expert panel appointed by the Conservation Minister after DOC called for applications in May last year.
Groups backing each site could now start the formal nomination process, which would include demonstrating their international significance, protection arrangements and community support.
Achieving UNESCO’s World Heritage status usually took five to 10 years.
Kororāreka-Russell was originally considered for the tentative list but Heritage New Zealand Northland manager Bill Edwards said the lack of a Treaty settlement in the North had complicated matters.
It could be reconsidered once settlement had been reached, he said.
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