Greater Sydney Peri urban Biosecurity Program

A partnership between NSW Department of Primary Industries and Greater Sydney Local Land Services

May 2018

Brown Marmorated Stink Bugs in Greater Sydney

Greater Sydney Local Land Service Plant Biosecurity Officer, Martin Horwood, has played a major role in the fight against Brown Marmorated Stink Bug (BMSB). Martin was appointed to the role as part of a partnership between Greater Sydney Local Land Services (GS LLS) and the NSW Department of Primary Industries. He was on hand and ready for action when the invasive BMSB were detected in North Western Sydney late last year. 

BMSB arrived in a shipping container from Italy and Martin played a vital role in the on-ground control and surveillance.  His direct engagement and open communication around infected sites resulted in an overwhelmingly positive community response, and significantly enhanced efforts to eliminate BMSB. 
 

Biosecurity in our Backyard

The flamboyant host of Gardening Australia, Costa Georgiadis, recently spearheaded efforts to carry the Peri Urban Program’s biosecurity awareness message into schools across the state. 

The ‘Biosecurity in Your Backyard’ project saw two virtual excursions produced and streamed into schools across the state using Connected Classroom technology. 

The project was part of a partnership between the NSW Department of Primary Industries and the Department of Education’s Distance and Rural Technologies (DART) and was filmed at Tocal College on March 27.

The project was more than six months in the making and gave primary school students the opportunity to meet biosecurity professionals who use science, technology and animals to protect our primary industries from pests and disease. Students learnt the four golden rules of food safety and how to care for fruit and vegetable gardens. 

High school students learnt about biosecurity risks presented by travel, imports and online shopping. They took part in a Q and A with Costa, learnt what they can do to protect Australia from invasive pests and disease and heard from scientists, educators and bee specialists. 

Both virtual excursions can be found on the Department of Education- Learning Systems YouTube page at https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCX7NZgZMAeIO5y9hW_vn0lQ 

New Connections

The Peri Urban program has been hard at work over the past three months and is helping to expand biosecurity awareness and preparedness into Victoria and Queensland. Biosecurity is a shared responsibility and community engagement and capacity building are vital to achieving the aims and objectives of the Peri Urban Program. 

As part of these engagement efforts we presented to the Victorian Farmers Federation and a broad group of stakeholders as they begin work on developing a Victorian equivalent of the Peri Urban Program. The Victorian equivalent will help strengthen biosecurity awareness and preparedness amongst small landholders. 
In addition we have been collaborating with the Queensland DPI around gateway biosecurity as they work to improve detection and reporting of exotic pests post-border.  

Although these efforts are still in their infancy, there is real potential to move toward a more coordinated, national approach to peri-urban issues. 

Community gardens, permaculture and lifestyle holdings have been growing in popularity as those in high density living look to get in touch with nature. To support these people, the NSW Peri Urban Program together with NSW DPI Agriculture and Greater Sydney Local Land Services, along with stakeholders representing natural resource management, the vegetable industry, land use and planning organisations, biosecurity groups, botanical gardens and other state government organisations from Western Australia, Queensland, and Victoria have formed an Urban Ag Network.  

The aim of the Urban Ag Network is to work collaboratively towards a cohesive national approach to managing urban landscapes. It will focus on public health and safety, biosecurity and commercialisation. We will be working with researchers from the universities of Sydney and Melbourne as well as the University of Technology in Sydney as they conduct research in the peri urban space. 

Peri Urban Biosecurity Social Research Report - Now Available

Charles Sturt and Macquarie universities have released their final report into research that will enable the Peri Urban Program to enhance biosecurity management in the Greater Sydney peri urban area. The social research was conducted on behalf of the Peri Urban Program and will enable DPI and LLS staff to better engage small landholders in biosecurity management.  

Key findings include that small landholders are perceived to be a significant biosecurity risk due to a lack of knowledge or understanding of requirements, limited contact with veterinarians and the undocumented movement of livestock. 

A reduction of face-to-face extension services and lack of a comprehensive smallholder database poses challenges for engaging with these landholders. 

Recommendations include: 

• Revising the language and terminology used to communicate with small landholders on biosecurity issues
• A review of how biosecurity information is communicated to organisations such as the LLS
• Implementing a series of forums for small landholders to discuss what 'good' plant and animal health means to them and how this can be ensured.

For a full report and a complete list of recommendations click here. 

Upcoming events

May 2018

• Livestock Champion Animal Health and Biosecurity workshop in the Capital Region with South East Local Land Services Regions
  5 May 2018
  10.00am - 3.30pm
  “Wallaby Hills” Murrumbateman
  Registration via Eventbrite 
   
• Livestock Champion keeping livestock for profitability workshops in the Macarthur Region with Greater Sydney Local Land Services Regions
  18 May 2018
  4.00pm - 7.00pm
  Belgenny Farm
  Camden South
  Registrations here
   
• 2018 Australian Veterinary Association Annual Conference
  Brisbane Convention Centre
  13 - 18 May 2018
  Registration: click here 

June 2018

• 3rd Australian Bee Congress
  Theme: Pollination and Bee Keeping for the Future
  27 - 30 June 2018
  RACV Royal Pines Resort, Gold Coast, Queensland
  For more information, click here

Upcoming 2018

• Livestock producer workshops – a collaboration with Greater Sydney Local Land Services and The University of Sydney
   
• Webinar for small holders- collaboration with Livestock Biosecurity Network (LBN)

Ongoing

• e-learning course for people working with smallholders. The course can be accessed at www.dpi.nsw.gov.au/biosecurity/greater-sydney-peri-urban