World Heritage is not a new concept for Kaikōura and has been discussed for over 20 years. Between 2004-2006, Kaikoura was reviewed, alongside 303 other sites, by the Department of Conservation Advisory Groups to be added to the World Heritage Tentative list. Kaikōura was recognised as having strong potential but had limitations:

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“Two other sites are likely to meet one or more criteria but are not of immediate priority because the first (Kaikōura) requires much more work to define the site and confer legal protection and the second site (Taupo) would require the full agreement and support of its private owners. However, the Natural Heritage Advisory Group considers that both sites are definite candidates for future listing. They should be kept under active review and considered again at the next revision of the tentative list”

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The key challenges from the 2006 advisory board report​ were:

• Issue 1:       Lack of any marine and coastal protected areas.

• Issue 2:      Lack of enough protected lowland of high natural character, linking any eventual marine/coastal                                   protected areas with the extensive conservation lands on the Seaward Kaikōura Range

• Issue 3:      The fragmented nature of marine planning and management, making it more difficult to ensure the                             sustainable management of Kaikōura’s fisheries and marine mammals. A potential World Heritage site at                     Kaikōura would need to have a co-ordinated marine/ coastal conservation plan in place before a listing                     could be contemplated.

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Since 2005, Kaikōura community has undertaken an extensive amount of work to overcome these challenges to ensure that Kaikōura not only meets the tentative criteria but should be at the top of the list.