25/04/2026
The Wellington council is under pressure to save money and has looked at a recommendation to defund the Lions Ōtari Plant Conservation Laboratory at Otari/Wilsons Bush, this is lab has, with the assistance of Dr Carlos Lehnebach been leading the research into in vitro (Flask) raising and the renaturalisation of rare endemic Orchid species.
With the OCNZ work at Iwitahi and our understanding of the difficulties involved in raising native orchids we are deeply concerned that the work to date and this unique facility could be lost
Long post warning! The 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 cryo 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.
Image: Ōtari Research Technician, Jennifer Alderton-Moss, discusses germination techniques at the Ōtari lab with Te Papa Botany Curator, Dr Carlos Lehnebach.
