Safeguarding Historic Heritage

Coastal historic heritage is associated with human activities around the coast. It includes places of early Māori settlement and where early documented encounters between Māori and Pakeha occurred. Historic buildings and structures in the coastal environment comprise structures such as wharves, ferry buildings, memorials and lighthouses.

There are also numerous shipwrecks around the New Zealand coastline. Particular parts of New Zealand were “shipwreck coasts” while other areas were deliberately set aside as “graveyards” for the disposal of obsolete ships. There are many recorded and unrecorded archaeological sites in the coastal environment including pā, middens, whaling sites and coastal defence sites.

For more information on managing coastal historic heritage click here.

Last updated at 2:12PM on February 25, 2015