The future of pest management

New Zealand’s pest management system stacked up well compared with other jurisdictions, however, new policies and legislative change would be needed to position the pest management sector to meet future challenges, the Biosecurity Summit was told.

David Moore, Law and Economics Consulting Group (LECG) Managing Director, outlined the findings of a think piece on the future of pest management in New Zealand that was commissioned by MAF Biosecurity New Zealand (MAFBNZ) in April this year.

MAFBNZ is responsible for leading and co-ordinating pest management in New Zealand. It commissioned the think piece to stimulate discussion on the issue, and to help development of a national strategy to guide pest management activity in New Zealand.

The think piece was prepared by John Hellstrom (Biosecurity Ltd), Mr Moore and Melleny Black (LECG), with a steering group of Department of Conservation, Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry (MAF) and regional council representatives, supported by an expert reference group.

Separately, regional councils commissioned Enfocus to prepare a report on the future of pest management in New Zealand.

Mr Moore said the challenges faced by the sector included an increasing pest burden, risks to physical controls, lack of clarity around roles and responsibilities of those involved in pest management, policy gaps in encouraging collective action between organisations and individuals, and lack of flexibility in some aspects of the Biosecurity Act 1993.

The report identifies a number of options to address the issues within the current pest management system including encouraging more collective action amongst landowners for pest management outcomes and a single manager of the “pest management tool box”.

Some options could be implemented within existing legislation and others would require legislation change. The options would require further analysis and discussion with stakeholders.

The think piece is an independent report that does not purport to represent government policy or the views of central government biosecurity agencies.

Copies of both the LECG and Enfocus reports are on the Biosecurity New Zealand website.

Page last updated: 8 January 2009