Nine New Zealand sites selected for World Heritage tentative list
Wednesday 7 October 2026 · 2 outlets · 2 reports · updated In this story Department of Conservation, UNESCO
Nine culturally and naturally significant locations have been chosen for New Zealand’s World Heritage Tentative List. The Department of Conservation-led review identified these sites, including the Kate Sheppard House and the Te Kauwhanganui Māori Parliament building, as having strong potential to meet UNESCO criteria.
Key facts
4 facts
- Nine sites selected for World Heritage Tentative List
- Applications for the list were invited in May 2025
- New Zealand currently has three World Heritage sites
- Te Kauwhanganui Māori Parliament Building opened on 14 September 1917
The full story
1 min read · 2 outlets
Nine culturally and naturally significant locations have been chosen for New Zealand’s World Heritage Tentative List. This selection, led by the Department of Conservation, identifies sites with the strongest potential to meet UNESCO criteria. These sites could potentially be nominated for official World Heritage status within 10 years.
The sites include the Waitangi Treaty Grounds/Te Pitowhenua and Te Tii Marae, Mataatua Wharenui – Te Mānuka Tūtahi in Whakatāne, and Te Whare Waiutuutu Kate Sheppard House in Christchurch. Other locations are Parihaka Papakāinga, Te Kauwhanganui Māori Parliament Building, and the Monument and Taonga Collection in Morrinsville. The list also features Te Hauturu o Toi/Little Barrier Island, the Wharekauri coastal strip in the Chatham Islands, Ngā Tapuwae o Mataaho in the Auckland Volcanic Fields, and the Kermadec Islands and Marine Reserve.
The Te Kauwhanganui Māori Parliament Building, located south of Morrinsville, preserves a rare Indigenous parliamentary system. Opened on 14 September 1917, the building was modelled on the House of Commons and established following land confiscations after the New Zealand Wars. The site includes a King Mahuta monument and an archive of over 20,000 documents, most of which are handwritten in te reo Māori.
Te Whare Waiutuutu Kate Sheppard House served as the home for Kate Sheppard from 1888 to 1902. It was the centre for the campaign that led to women gaining the right to vote in 1893. Dr Christine Whybrew of Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga noted the house's global significance due to its connection to that campaign.
Where reports differ
- One report identifies the Morrinsville site as the Te Kauwhanganui Māori Parliament Building, Monument and Taonga Collection at Rukumoana Marae, while the other lists them as separate entries
Compiled from reports by The Press and Waikato Times.