The Antarctic Heritage Trust (New Zealand) was founded in 1987 and is the oldest member of the

Antarctic Heritage Trust Currently the Antarctic Heritage Trust consists of two partners, the Antarctic Heritage Trust (New Zealand) which was formed in 1987 and the UK Antarctic Heritage Trust, founded in 1993. The Trust is a coalition established to promote the following ...

coalition. The AHT-NZ is an independent charitable trust based in

Christchurch Christchurch ( ; mi, Ōtautahi) is the largest city in the South Island of New Zealand and the seat of the Canterbury Region. Christchurch lies on the South Island's east coast, just north of Banks Peninsula on Pegasus Bay. The Avon River / ...

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

. It was created to care for sites important to the history of the

Heroic Age of Antarctic Exploration The Heroic Age of Antarctic Exploration was an era in the exploration of the continent of Antarctica which began at the end of the 19th century, and ended after the First World War; the Shackleton–Rowett Expedition of 1921–1922 is often cit ...

located in the

Ross Sea The Ross Sea is a deep bay of the Southern Ocean in Antarctica, between Victoria Land and Marie Byrd Land and within the Ross Embayment, and is the southernmost sea on Earth. It derives its name from the British explorer James Clark Ross who vi ...

region of

Antarctica Antarctica () is Earth's southernmost and least-populated continent. Situated almost entirely south of the Antarctic Circle and surrounded by the Southern Ocean, it contains the geographic South Pole. Antarctica is the fifth-largest contine ...

. The sites that the AHT-NZ monitors include: four expedition bases associated with early Antarctic explorers, including those of

Robert Falcon Scott Captain Robert Falcon Scott, , (6 June 1868 – c. 29 March 1912) was a British Royal Navy officer and explorer who led two expeditions to the Antarctic regions: the ''Discovery'' expedition of 1901–1904 and the ill-fated ''Terra Nov ...

Ernest Shackleton Sir Ernest Henry Shackleton (15 February 1874 – 5 January 1922) was an Anglo-Irish Antarctic explorer who led three British expeditions to the Antarctic. He was one of the principal figures of the period known as the Heroic Age of ...

and

Carstens Borchgrevink Carsten Egeberg Borchgrevink (1 December 186421 April 1934) was an Anglo-Norwegian polar exploration, polar explorer and a pioneer of Antarctica, Antarctic travel. He inspired Sir Robert Falcon Scott, Sir Ernest Shackleton, Roald Amundsen, and ...

. AHT-NZ patrons include the Governor General of New Zealand, and before his death Sir

Edmund Hillary Sir Edmund Percival Hillary (20 July 1919 – 11 January 2008) was a New Zealand mountaineer, explorer, and philanthropist. On 29 May 1953, Hillary and Sherpa mountaineer Tenzing Norgay became the first climbers confirmed to have reached t ...

. The Trust is governed by a board of trustees that represent a number of international agencies and organisations. On an ongoing basis, work is carried out by two full-time staff members in

Projects

Currently the AHT-NZ is engaged in the "Ross Sea Heritage Restoration Project" which was launched by

The Princess Royal Princess Royal is a style customarily (but not automatically) awarded by a British monarch to their eldest daughter. Although purely honorary, it is the highest honour that may be given to a female member of the royal family. There have been sev ...

in Antarctica in 2002. Although receiving support from the

UK Antarctic Heritage Trust The United Kingdom Antarctic Heritage Trust (UKAHT) is a British charity, registered in 1993 and re-registered in 2015. The UKAHT is a member of the Antarctic Heritage Trust coalition. The UKAHT's Patron is Princess Anne, The Princess Royal. The ...

, the AHT-NZ has assumed operational responsibility for the preservation of heritage sites in the

region, including the above-mentioned huts. In December 2013, the trust found 22 relatively intact negatives at the Scott site, left by the Shackleton expedition, some of which showed

McMurdo Sound McMurdo Sound is a sound in Antarctica. It is the southernmost navigable body of water in the world, and is about from the South Pole. Captain James Clark Ross discovered the sound in February 1841, and named it after Lt. Archibald McMurdo o ...

landmarks.

References

External links

Antarctic Heritage Trust (New Zealand) web site
Ross Dependency New Zealand and the Antarctic 1987 establishments in New Zealand Organizations established in 1987

Projects

References

Further reading

External links