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Ross Sea Heritage Restoration Project

Ross Sea Heritage Restoration Project

The largest heritage project ever undertaken in the polar regions.

In 2002, HRH Princess Anne launched the Trust’s Ross Sea Heritage Restoration Project (RSHRP) in Antarctica, a multi-year, multi-site international heritage conservation project to secure the five historic explorer bases of Scott, Shackleton, Borchgrevink and Hillary, and conserve the thousands of artefacts associated with the sites. At around the same time the international community began to recognise the importance of these sites. The Getty Foundation made significant funding available for the project and the World Monuments Fund listed all four sites on their 2008 list of the 100 Most Endangered Sites on Earth. They are also protected under the Antarctic Treaty System.

Since 2006 the Trust has engaged over 80 international heritage and conservation specialists in Antarctica, working in our custom-built facilities in the most challenging heritage conservation environment on Earth.

Conservation Plans for each of the Explorer Bases, developed as part of the Ross Sea Heritage Restoration Project, can be purchased by emailing info@nzaht.org

Read the latest conservation news:

The water colour

Dr Edward Wilson Watercolour

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New Zealand Antarctic Heritage Trust has discovered an almost perfectly preserved 118 year old watercolour painting among penguin-excrement, dust and mould covered papers found in an historic hut at Cape Adare, Antarctica.
Hillary's hut

Hillary’s Hut Wins Award

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We are delighted to have won the International category of the 31st annual Dulux Colour Awards for Hillary's Hut. Sixty years on from when Hillary's (TAE/IGY) Hut was the first building at New Zealand's Scott Base, its retro colours are again…
Hillary's hutJane Ussher

Saving Hillary’s Hut

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On Friday 20 January 2017 the residents of New Zealand's Scott Base celebrated the base’s 60 year anniversary by taking a tour through the recently restored Hillary’s (TAE/IGY) Hut. Antarctic Heritage Trust’s team of 12 worked more…

You can conserve these incredible places

Each year our expert team of conservators travel to Antarctica to maintain and conserve these huts and the 20,000 artefacts left inside. This ongoing work ensures that the legacy of Antarctic exploration continues for generations to come. But we cannot do this work without help from people like you.

By making a gift to the Trust you can help conserve the legacy of Antarctic exploration. If you’re passionate about this work, consider becoming an Antarctic Explorer Member or leaving a gift in your Will.