The introduction of unwanted pests and diseases has the potential to adversely impact on the lives of New Zealanders, which is why biosecurity is the topic of a symposium, open to the public, in Tauranga on Monday, August 7.

“Opening the eyes and minds of biosecurity: Facilitating the pragmatic uptake of knowledge for biosecurity” is the title of a workshop that will bring together representatives of government organisations, industries, science organisations and the public.

The event precedes the New Zealand Plant Protection Conference at Trinity Wharf in Tauranga, which runs from August 8-10.

During the symposium a number of speakers will investigate ways to enhance collaboration for improving biosecurity, resulting in more effective use of assets, including people, information, tools, science and infrastructure, while maintaining social licence to allow the use of biosecurity tools and technologies. The NZPPS conference is promoted as New Zealand’s prime venue for the exchange of scientific information on all aspects of plant protection.

Oral presentations during the conference include invited speakers and summaries of papers published in the NZPPS peer-reviewed journal ‘New Zealand Plant Protection’. The conference also features a lively poster session, with abstracts from posters also being published in the journal.

To find out more, go to: https://nzpps.org/conference.php