DoC eyed overseas investment while cutting Chathams jobs

Selection for a global island restoration programme was the backdrop to conservation job cuts on the Chatham Islands.

In May, DoC announced a proposal to roughly halve its full-time jobs on the islands to five roles.

The final structure, confirmed last month, was to whittle its presence to seven permanent staff, and for the Chathams to merge with the Wairarapa district. From October to April, however, on-island staff would be bolstered by a 20-strong team of secondments, contractors, and volunteers.

“This change is intended to address existing issues and improve our resilience in delivering this critical conservation work,” said a DoC press statement on June 11.

An internal departmental briefing, released to Newsroom under official information laws, said the Chatham Islands’ uniqueness – it has a quarter of New Zealand’s endangered species – had been recognised by inclusion in the international Island-Ocean Connection Challenge (IOCC).

The challenge is a global initiative to begin restoring and rewilding island-ocean ecosystems by 2030. It was launched in 2022 by founding partners Island Conservation, Re:wild – which counts Hollywood actor Leonardo DiCaprio as a founding board member – and the Scripps Institution of Oceanography at the University of California San Diego.

Seventeen of IOCC’s 40 projects have been announced but the Chathams isn’t among them.

“With overseas investment, the challenge seeks to remove introduced mammalian predators from this important island ecosystem,” said the DoC paper, from April 26, written by Alice Heather, the department’s director of operations for the lower North Island and Chatham Islands.

“The goal of the challenge is to enable the rewilding of the islands, reversing biodiversity decline, mitigating climate change, and protecting the wellbeing of the island community.

“To capitalise on this opportunity, it is important that any future operating model [on the Chatham Islands] is more agile and flexible. This will enable resourcing to be adjusted up and down to align with funding contributions flowing in from the challenge.”

The Chathams, about 800km east of the South Island, comprise 11 islands. The largest – Chatham and Pitt Islands – are inhabited by humans.

Such isolation, combined with a wild climate, have led to the Chathams having the highest level of endemism (species found only in that place) of any of Aotearoa’s biogeographic regions. Heather’s briefing said they contained 358 threatened and at-risk species, 25 of which were nationally critical.

DoC’s work on the Chathams is crucial. However, given its remote location and harsh climate, the department has struggled to recruit and retain suitably qualified staff. “Most team members also live and work in close proximity 24/7.”

Staffing problems have bubbled to the surface in recent years, Heather’s paper revealed. Investigations were prompted by staff concerns since 2022.

“While many factors contribute to the issues besetting the island team, poor leadership is identified by the team as the most significant factor affecting team performance and morale.

“Lack of connection with and support from the wider regional and national team (isolation), and issues with housing are also frequently cited by team members.”

Problems on the Chathams identified by DoC included a dysfunctional leadership team, poor team culture and morale, inconsistent adherence to policies and procedures, delays in delivering projects, and reduced productivity in winter. Tired and despondent staff were looking for other jobs.

“Balancing these observations, many within the team also demonstrate valuable knowledge, skills and passion for the work of Te Papa Atawhai [DoC],” the April 26 paper said.

“Feedback also suggests that persistent issues for the department in recruiting and maintaining a high-functioning team on island has damaged the department’s credibility with islanders, and compromised its effectiveness in delivering conservation outcomes.”

As a good employer, the department had an imperative to act, the briefing said – to improve staff wellbeing, as well as culture, morale, and performance.

DoC needed a new model for the islands, Heather wrote, rather than continuing to use a model that had repeatedly failed. A new model would also provide better value for money.

“Any new model of operation needs to be more agile and flexible to position the district to maximise the opportunities arising through the [Island-Ocean Connection] Challenge.”

That flexibility included the “summer” season workforce boost between October and April. Some high-performing operations staff on the mainland would be offered “highly attractive” secondments to the island.

A “key benefit” of the new model included: “Agile operating model that can easily scale up with additional challenge funding or other external sponsorship.”

DoC’s statement from last month said the new operating model was not driven by cost savings. But it appears some savings would be made.

Heather’s briefing said the department heavily subsidised staff accommodation, estimated last year to be $218,000 per annum for 12 staff.

With fewer on-island staff, some DoC-owned properties could be converted to bunk-houses to be used by the summer workforce, and available for short-term lets over winter.

“This model of operation would potentially provide an improved return to the department for its property portfolio on-island, and reduce the costs currently incurred in housing volunteers and other departmental staff visiting the island in non-department accommodation.”

A five-bedroom Lockwood house is used as DoC’s office, but the layout is poor and it’s not fit for purpose. It was due for an $800,000 upgrade in 2026/27.

“Instead of the department investing this money, it is proposed that space for 10 desks is leased in the new Chatham Island council building,” the briefing said. “This would enable the department to sell the Lockwood house, reducing its property liabilities and cost on-island.”

The $800,000 could be reallocated as the department’s share of a new “hub” depot facility being built by the council.

Potential risks outlined by Heather included damage to relationships with imi (Moriori tribe) and iwi.

The department refused to release individual staff feedback on its proposal.

“Individual staff feedback, especially in the case of a small workforce such as in the Chatham Islands, would unreasonably identify individuals on a topic relating to their employment,” Heather told Newsroom in the official information response.

“It is in the public interest that this information continues to be provided in a frank and open manner.”

DoC’s new structure on the Chathams took effect on July 1.