Antarctic Heritage Trust (New Zealand)

The Antarctic Heritage Trust (New Zealand) was founded in 1987 and is the oldest member of the Antarctic Heritage Trust coalition. The AHT-NZ is an independent charitable trust based in Christchurch, New Zealand.^[1] It was created to care for sites important to the history of the Heroic Age of Antarctic Exploration located in the Ross Sea region of Antarctica.

The sites that the AHT-NZ monitors include: four expedition bases associated with early Antarctic explorers, including those of Robert Falcon Scott, Ernest Shackleton and Carstens Borchgrevink.

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

Currently the AHT-NZ is engaged in the "Ross Sea Heritage Restoration Project" which was launched by The Princess Royal in Antarctica in 2002.

Although receiving support from the UK Antarctic Heritage Trust, the AHT-NZ has assumed operational responsibility for the preservation of heritage sites in the Ross Sea 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 landmarks.^[2]

• Historic Sites and Monuments in Antarctica

• Jenkins, Simon (2006-04-28). "A corner of Antarctica that will be for ever Britain, no matter the cost". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 2007-02-22.
• Hughes, Peter (2007-02-10). "The last continent". London: Telegraph. Archived from the original on 2008-02-19. Retrieved 2007-02-22.

• Antarctic Heritage Trust (New Zealand) web site