Potential World Heritage Sites in NZ

UNESCO is considering three NZ locations as potential World Heritage Sites at the request of PM Helen Clark, who is also NZ’s Minister of Culture and Heritage. The Waitangi Treaty Grounds, Kerikeri Basin and Napier’s Art Deco historic precinct have all been suggested as worthy of World Heritage protection. Known as “the birthplace of the nation”, the Waitangi Treaty Grounds at Russell were the location for the first signing of the Treaty of Waitangi between Maori and the British Crown in 1840. The Kerikeri Basin in Northland saw the birth of Christianity and bi-cultural society in NZ, with the arrival of European missionaries in 1819. Napier’s Art Deco historic precinct was built following the town’s near complete destruction from a massive earthquake in 1931.