FEATURE ARTICLES
Among the articles we feature below are some of the presentations from the 9th BGANZ Congress. For those of you who attended the congress, here’s an opportunity to revisit the presentations and for others, a chance to read about some of the stimulating presentations conference goers enjoyed.
Protecting and conserving native and taonga plants in Aotearoa New Zealand – an indigenous biosecurity response* Dr Nick Waipara, Te Tira Whakamātaki (Māori Biosecurity Network) and Researcher, Plant and Food Research
Our regionally unique Australasian and Pacific environments are increasingly under threat from introduced organisms and from new threats emerging in a rapidly changing global context. Our economic, environmental and cultural prosperity are inextricably linked to, and strongly depend on, our natural environment, but all can be threatened by invasive pests. In Aotearoa New Zealand biosecurity incursions are an ever increasing risk to the unique biodiversity as there are multiple entry points and pathways for invasive pests, diseases and weeds to enter the country including through trade, tourism and weather events. Estimates of economic damage to productive ecosystems (forestry, horticulture, agriculture) from both new and established invasive species is already very large, running into the billions per annum in control costs alone. Added to the many environmental, social and cultural impacts, these costs are only a fraction of the actual losses, many of which cannot be calculated, and is why biosecurity is a priority issue for many industries, agencies and the public. People all over New Zealand are practicing biosecurity every day – working in our communities, in business, in government and in our own backyards. To mitigate the growing impacts of invasive 38
THE BOTANIC GARDENer | ISS 53 SUMMER 2019/20
