About Antarctic Heritage Trust

Antarctic Heritage Trust is a New Zealand-based charity with a vision of inspiring explorers.

Through its mission to conserve, share and encourage the spirit of exploration the Trust cares for the remarkable expedition bases of early Antarctic explorers including, Carsten Borchgrevink, Captain Robert Falcon Scott, Sir Ernest Shackleton and Sir Edmund Hillary.

It shares the legacy of exploration through outreach programmes and encourages the spirit of exploration through expeditions to engage and inspire a new generation.

Antarctic Heritage Trust was established in 1987. The Trust manages the Ross Sea Heritage Restoration Project, which is the world’s largest cold-climate conservation project, caring for five expedition bases in the Ross Sea region of Antarctica:

Borchgrevink’s Hut, Cape Adare
Scott’s Hut, Hut Point
Shackleton’s Hut, Cape Royds
Scott’s Hut, Cape Evans
Hillary’s Hut, Scott Base

More than 80 conservation experts from 15 countries have worked in Antarctica on this project conserving the explorers’ bases and the more than 20,000 artefacts the men left behind, including clothing, food and equipment. A number of famous discoveries have been made over the years. Read more about the project’s background here.

Read our Strategic Plan.

OUR WORK

Our current work programme has four main focus areas:

  • Conserving Antarctica’s heritage under the Trust’s care for future generations
  • Sharing the world’s greatest exploration stories
  • Encouraging youth to explore the physical world to educate and inspire them
  • Sustain and grow the Trust’s programmes while caring for people and the planet