Volunteer to help with weeding or maintenance on Te Hauturu-o-Toi/Little Barrier Island – one of New Zealand's oldest off-shore island sanctuaries.
It is home to many of our endangered wildlife species and over 400 plant species, and you should have time to explore some of the island in your downtime.
Backcountry weeding
Join the DOC weed team for the spring weeding season. Teams of up to four volunteers help with grid searching for the weed climbing asparagus, found in small numbers on the island. The work is off-track in very steep, thick, bushy terrain, and can be very monotonous.
Dates: 4 to 18 November and 18 to 29 November (subject to change due to weather)
Fitness/skills required: You need a high to extremely high fitness level, good agility and stamina. This is due to the rugged nature of the terrain.
Experience and skills required: You also need to be comfortable moving over steep and crumbly terrain all day and able to concentrate on weed spotting at the same time. Experience in previous grid search weeding (or similar) and working in challenging terrain is preferred.
General maintenance
Dates: Monday 24 March to Friday 4 April 2025 (subject to change due to weather)
Fitness required: You must be extremely fit, and have good agility and stamina.
Fitness/skills required: You need a high to extremely high fitness level, good agility and stamina. This is due to the rugged nature of the terrain.
Experience and skills required: Practical hands on skills such as painting or building.
What to expect
Accommodation: All volunteers will stay in the well equipped bunkhouse on the island.
Getting there: DOC will organise volunteers permit, quarantining, boat transport to the island and Ngati Manuhiri cultural induction if you have not already done this.
Costs: DOC will be charge you cost recovery of permit, quarantining, Cultural Induction, bunkhouse accommodation and boat transport to the island.
Cultural Induction: Ngati Manuhiri will provide a cultural induction on the departure day.
Time commitment: You need to make a 17–18 day commitment. This includes a biosecurity check the day before departure for the island and up to three days of boat travel to/from the island.
What to bring
Food: Volunteers need to supply their own food. You may choose to have shared evening meals.
A full equipment list and information pack will be issued prior to the commencement of the programme.
How to apply
Register your interest by filling out our online application form.
This is a popular opportunity and not all applications will be successful. Shortlisted applicants will be sent a questionnaire to help us select the volunteer teams.
Contact
For further information and questions email: hauturu@doc.govt.nz.