SPS Biota and BT South staff attended the National Education and Training Seminars 2022 (NETS 2022) conference, held at the Christchurch town hall on 3rd to 5th of August.
This is an annual event focused on aspects of biosecurity in Aotearoa, New Zealand. The theme to this year’s conference was ‘Changing Landscapes’.
The conference bought together local, regional councils, Dept. of Conservation, Crown research Institutes as well as people from agriculture and forestry industries to discuss methods of eradication and the prediction of future invasive pest control methods.
Over the three-day period participants listened to a selection of talks to topics focused on animal, marine, aquatic and plant pests and the effects these have on the environment and ecosystems throughout New Zealand.
Simon Upton, the Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment, spoke of his recent report “Space Invaders”, and how weed species are a particular threat to the New Zealand environment.
Our second day included field trips showcasing various pest control programmes on Horomaka, Banks Peninsula and Te Waiora, Lake Ellesmere – there has been some amazing work conducted by organizations and volunteer groups with the focus on controlling biosecurity threats.
The third day covered a variety of topics including: effects of wilding conifers, wasp control, The use of dogs for Argentine ant detection, koi carp and aquatic weed damage. There was even a talk on the effects dog walking on the Dotterel.
NETS was a fantastic opportunity to be able to tie in the work we do in the “border space” and important work required, post-border, once pests and diseases establish.
There is some fantastic work going on around the country, and it was very encouraging to see the various projects and research being dedicated to helping protect New Zealand.