New Zealand Huts Pilot Programme a Success
Antarctic Heritage Trust in partnership with Backcountry Trust and with support from Department of Conservation (DOC), successfully piloted a new initiative connecting young people with Aotearoa New Zealand’s backcountry and inspiring the next generation of explorers.
Over five days, two groups of alumni from across the Trust’s Inspiring Explorers™ and conservation programmes worked to conserve Omaru Hut and Pouri Hut along the Matemateaonga Track in Whanganui National Park, which is in the North Island of New Zealand. Their mahi (work) included painting both huts inside and out, clearing vegetation, digging new toilet pits and shifting toilets.
“I was privileged enough to spend five days in Whanganui National Park as part of the Trust’s pilot programme,” said 2023 Inspiring Explorer Kelsey Waghorn. “Being inspired by the important conservation work the Trust does in Antarctica, getting young Kiwis into the busy, and bringing teams together to build relationships really was one of a kind. The potential this programme has to instil a sense of achievement, camaraderie and teamwork is phenomenal. I cannot wait to see it grow wings and take off.”
Through partnerships with youth organisations and school networks the initiative will give young people the chance to explore their own backyard and develop their ‘Explorer Mindset’. In collaboration with Backcountry Trust, teams will restore huts using many of the same skills applied each season by the Trust’s conservation team on the Ice.
The programme aims to ignite curiosity about exploration, deepen understanding of conservation and may even inspire a future career in heritage conservation work. The next programme will run in early 2026.
