The Lions Ōtari Plant Conservation Laboratory and the Annual Plan
Ōtari Research Technician Jennifer Alderton-Moss and Te Papa Botany Curator Dr Carlos Lehnebach in the Ōtari LabThe Lions Ōtari Plant Conservation Laboratory has been caught in the net of Council’s cost cutting ambitions. Embedded in the just-released WCC Draft Annual Plan for 2026/27 is a cost saving of $211,000 targeted to the Lab. This covers the salaries of one scientist (who left the role in January), one research technician, along with some operating costs and, if passed, would effectively shut down the Lab on 30 June. Councillors, when voting to include these savings in the Annual Plan, were given the impression that the lab focused on one rare native orchid and that work would no longer happen because the scientist had left. They were also were not informed that other options, with lesser savings, were presented to the working group who developed the draft Plan’s portfolio of cost cuts.
The Trust and Karori Lions Club are now working alongside Te Papa and DOC to retain the Lab. It is a unique facility and the research conducted there has made a huge contribution to native plant conservation. We do not want to lose it.
We have been meeting with Councillors and Council officials, putting the record straight and proposing a solution that can avoid the threatened closure of the Lab. As a result, more councillors are now aware of several key factors about the Lab. One: There is much more research being undertaken than on just one orchid. Work on seed biology conducted at the Lab has covered a multitude of species, and been done in collaboration with multiple partners, key ones being Te Papa, DOC, Victoria University of Wellington, and Ngāti Kuri (who work with the Lab to save rātā Moehau which has only 13 known plants growing in the wild.) Two: Scientist Dr van der Walt has left however incumbent research technician, Jennifer Alderton-Moss, has a Masters in Cellular and Molecular Biology and is an extremely capable technician/scientist. Three: public funding, headed by $70,000 from the Karori Lions Club and including significant individual bequests from our own members, contributed to the establishment of the Lab in 2018. Four: External funding and research grants, from our Trust and from national and international conservation organisations, have contributed circa $400,000 to research at the Lab. Five: If the Lab closed in June rare seeds, embryos and seedlings currently protected in sterile and cyro storage lab conditions would be lost.
Submissions on the Annual Plan are now being called for, closing 10 May at midnight. The Trust will be submitting to retain the current functioning of the Lab for the next financial year while a more secure future for the Lab is worked out with potential partners. Following discussions with Te Papa and DOC, we believe this can be achieved. We will be requesting a budget of $110k be retained (salary for the research technician and some operating spend), with a saving of $101k for 2026/27.
Herer is the link to the Annual Plan: https://www.letstalk.wellington.govt.nz/mahere-tau-annual-plan-202627. The proposal to cut the Lab’s funding comes within Operational Expenditure Changes, however this does not show up in this document. When you make your submission you will need to make clear what you are wanting to talk about, explain that it comes from the agenda of the Ordinary Meeting of Te Taurapa | Council Planning and Finance Committee, 12 March 2026, you will find it on this link: https://wellington.govt.nz/-/media/Your-council/meetings/Committees/Te-Taurapa-Council-Planning-and-Finance-Committee/2026-03-12-Updated-Agenda-CPF (Item 17 at the top of p. 40).
To make a submission, first register on the Consultation Survey: https://www.letstalk.wellington.govt.nz/mahere-tau-annual-plan-202627/consultation-survey, continue through the document to where you can make your statement. Identify Item 17, and say your piece! Thanks!
Posted: 14 April 2026
