Big funding boost for marine biosecurity research
Cawthron Institute’s programme ‘Effective eradication: strategies, tactics, and technologies for successful marine invasion management’ has received nearly $10 million in funding from the Ministry of Business, Innovation & Employment. The funding applies across a five year period.
The Cawthron Institute Trust Board says:
Invasive pests are a priority threat to Aotearoa New Zealand’s coastal environments. They can damage and irreversibly alter ecosystems we depend on for our identity, food, jobs, and recreation. These threats are escalating in a changing climate and, now more than ever, we need to front-foot effective defences to eliminate marine pests and roll back their impacts.
Aotearoa New Zealand has led the world in applied innovation for marine biosecurity – our systems to reduce the likelihood of pests arriving at our shores and rapidly detect any that do have set the standard. The essential next step is to develop effective strategies, tactics, technologies, and tools to eradicate or manage an extensive legacy of pests and inevitable ongoing incursions. Our programme will do just this, adding teeth to the overall biosecurity system.
We believe the key for effective marine pest control is to set clear goals at the earliest opportunity (as NZ did with COVID-19), followed by tactical application of fit-for-purpose control tools/technologies. To achieve this, we will develop and prove a spectrum of strategies that bridge the gap between invasion theory and practical biosecurity. These strategies will be backed by innovative decision-support and tactical planning tools plus a portfolio of cutting-edge pest control platform technologies designed to remove or kill pests at the rates and scales required to succeed.
This programme builds beyond the success of the Cawthron-led Marine Biosecurity Toolbox Endeavour Programme that delivered transformational science outcomes for marine surveillance and pathway management. In partnership with stakeholders across the biosecurity system, we are now positioned to transform marine pest control science and, in doing so, enhance coastal resources for long-term resilience and a thriving blue economy.