RNZ understands about 130 roles could go at Department of Conservation (DoC), with a number of these already vacant positions.
It is the latest department to learn its fate as part of the government's cost cutting measures.
More than 1000 jobs are already set to go across the sector.
DoC staff gathered for a meeting early on Wednesday afternoon.
The department, which manages nearly a third of New Zealand's total land area, has already had its funding cut this year by 21 percent.
At the end of last year, DoC employed 2797 people in total.
It was singled out during the election campaign by Finance Minister Nicola Willis as an agency that could make big cuts.
However, in its briefing to incoming Minister Tama Potaka in November, officials admitted the department was "losing the battle" against predators and invasive species and facing growing threats from extreme weather, climate change and visitor numbers.
"Despite all we are doing to try to protect and restore habitats and assist species, nearly 4000 native species are either at risk or threatened with extinction. When species are lost from New Zealand, they are often lost from the whole world and many are only holding on in small numbers because of intensive management."
DoC only delivers 1080-based predator control on around 7.5 percent of public conservation land annually.
Furthermore, the current visitor network was "not sustainable" and taking staff and cash from biodiversity efforts.
Many of DoC's 967 backcountry huts were ageing and in poor repair, while the length of track being maintained has grown from 11,000km to 15,000km in the past 14 years.
RNZ
