Research and collection: Apply for permits

Apply for a permit to collect samples or undertake research on plants, soils, rocks, invertebrates, fresh water fish species or historic materials that are on public conservation land.

You must have permission from DOC if you want to collect samples or undertake research on public conservation land on any of the following:

plants
soils
rocks
invertebrates
water
other animals not protected by Wildlife Act
snow
research instrument
historic materials.

Pre-application advice

Applying for a Wildlife Act authorisation for the first time can be complicated. To ensure your application goes smoothly we offer free pre-application advice.

We’ll help you to:

Understand the authorisation you will need to apply for.
Navigate our statutory planning documents, so you can consider whether the activity you wish to undertake is consistent with them.
Understand DOC’s responsibility to give effect to the principles of the Treaty of Waitangi, which requires consultation with Treaty Partners on most applications. If you wish, DOC can help you contact the local iwi, hapū, and whānau to assess whether your proposed activity will have any cultural effects. Often this consultation can enhance the activity you are considering.

Apply for authorisation

Fill in the Research and collection authorisation application form 10 (PDF, 2,073K).
If the species you want to work on is protected by the Wildlife Act you also will need to fill in the relevant Wildlife authorisation application form.
Post or email the form(s) along with the relevant documents requested to permissions@doc.govt.nz.

Identify the name and status of the public conservation land you wish to use by checking DOC maps.

Find out more about the process and how to prepare your application.

Permissions application process

Preparing a permission application

Types of authorisation

Standard applications
Complex applications. These applications are likely to have more significant environmental effects than standard applications.
Variation to authorisation - Authorisation variation form 10a (PDF, 557K)or (Word, 1,064K)

A proposed activity is considered complex if it involves:

commercial use of the material (a concession will also be required)
taking of any sample (including DNA) for genetic modification purposes, eg the creation of a new organism
material being removed from New Zealand (except for purely taxonomic classification purposes)
the application or conduct of the activity will generate significant public interest
methods or species that need more complex consideration by DOC
covers a large number of locations.

Timeframe

Complex applications could take a number of months to be processed and will take longer than standard applications.

Complex applications are likely to have more significant environmental effects.

To get your permit as quickly as possible, be specific about the area(s) and species you would like to research. A broader permit that covers many regions and/or species takes much longer to process because it requires considerable liaison between district offices, as well as consultation with multiple iwi.

If your application involves large areas, or the whole of New Zealand, you must also clearly express the conservation benefit or we will request that you narrow your application down.

Fees

There is no application processing fee for non-commercial applications.

We charge a processing fee for all other applications based on the time required to process your application and staff hourly charge-out rates. Complex applications cost more as they take longer to process. After you apply, we will assign your application to a processing category that reflects its complexity. Each category has a minimum processing fee.

Learn more about processing categories and minimum fees

If you seek pre-application advice, we can tell you the category and minimum processing fee that will most likely apply to your application. We will confirm your minimum processing fee once your application is accepted and assigned to a processing category. If we expect your processing fee to exceed the minimum fee, we will give you a non-binding fee estimate before we start work.

We will usually invoice your fee after processing is complete. If you withdraw your application, you will be charged for any work already done.

If your application is approved, ongoing permission fees may apply.

Research and collection authorisations

We recommend you check the standard authorisation for your activity before you make an application so you know what to expect and what will be expected of you. If the authorisation is not listed here, get in touch.

Contact us

For more information or assistance with your application, contact the nearest of these DOC offices.