More protection is coming in for sacred sites.
Te Kenehi Teira of the Heritage Council Photo: RNZ / Tom Furley
Heritage New Zealand is adding a wāhi tūpuna classification to its registry.
It allows places with ancestral meaning to be catalogued under the Pouhere Taonga Act.
So far no places have been listed as details around how they are handled are worked through.
The Māori Heritage council's Kaihautū Māori Te Kenehi Teira said iwi had already started nominating areas they would like to see registered as important ancestral sites.
MrTeira said registering would be similar to the wāhi tapu list with each nomination taking around four months.
