Step Towards World Heritage Status
The Waitangi National Trust Board share the announcement by the Department of Conservation, that the Waitangi Treaty Grounds and Te Tiriti o Waitangi (Te Tii) Marae will be included on Aotearoa New Zealand's new World Heritage Tentative List.
Inclusion on the Tentative List is the essential first step towards nomination for UNESCO World Heritage status. If successful, Waitangi would become New Zealand's first World Heritage site recognised for its cultural heritage values alone.
Waitangi National Trust Board Chair, Dame Jenny Shipley, said: “the announcement 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. It is here that rangatira signed He Whakaputanga in 1835, and first signed Te Tiriti o Waitangi with the Crown on 6 February 1840. The relationship forged here continues to shape who we are as New Zealanders today.”
“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 not just to Aotearoa New Zealand but to the world."
Cultural tourism is growing rapidly worldwide, and World Heritage status would provide a catalyst to attract new visitors to Waitangi, the surrounding key historic and cultural sites and the wider North.
The Treaty Grounds were gifted to the nation by Lord and Lady Bledisloe in 1932 and are cared for by the Trust Board. They include the Treaty House, Te Whare Rūnanga, the waka taua Ngātokimatawhaorua, Te Kōngahu Museum of Waitangi and Te Rau Aroha Museum.
The Board particularly welcomes the inclusion of Te Tii Marae, across the Waitangi River, home to Te Tou Rangatira, Te Wharenui o Te Tiriti o Waitangi and the 1881 Treaty Monument bearing the full Māori text of Te Tiriti.
Te Tii Marae Chairperson Ngati Kawa Taituha said "Waitangi is one landscape on both sides of the Waitangi awa. We acknowledge the kaumātua, whānau and hapū of Te Tii, and we look forward to working alongside them, the Trust and the Department of Conservation and on the road to a full nomination."
Dame Jenny also thanked the Department of Conservation, the independent expert panel, Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga and everyone who supported the application of these two unique cultural heritage sites that tell New Zealand’s story.
New Zealand's three current World Heritage sites – Te Wāhipounamu, Tongariro National Park and the Subantarctic Islands – are recognised for natural values, with Tongariro also inscribed for its cultural significance to Ngāti Tūwharetoa.
Next steps: Once submitted to UNESCO's World Heritage Centre, a site must remain on the Tentative List for at least one year before it can be nominated. The Board will now begin preparing a full nomination dossier.
