It was with great pleasure that I accepted the 2018 CAWS Early Career Weed Scientist Travel Award
to visit fellow researchers, land managers and community members in New Zealand to workshop
biological control protocols for the groundcover herbaceous weed wandering trad (Tradescantia
fluminensis, Fig. 1a) infected with the yellow leaf spot fungus Kordyana brasiliensis (Fig. 1b).
Kia ora,
The attached article highlights some exciting happenings around the collaborative biocontrol happening in Waikato and nationwide, through coordinated efforts.
Gooden_CAWS Travel report_18.6.2018.pdf
Below is a forward from the Kauri Dieback Programme Governance Group and Head of Biosecurity New Zealand; .
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TÄ“nÄ koe
New Zealand's iconic kauri trees remain at risk from the spread of kauri dieback disease.
At the end of last year, the Government clearly signalled the need to deliver stronger protection for kauri, including the development of a National Pest Management Plan. The Kauri Dieback Programme Governance Group is progressing this work and has set up the Accelerating Protection for Kauri project to do this. Now there’s an opportunity for everyone with an interest in kauri to contribute.
To gather ideas and get your thoughts on ways to protect kauri there’ll be three rounds of consultation. Right now the details are still being worked on. But we can tell you the first round will be about refreshing the direction for managing kauri dieback disease. In later rounds we’ll ask you what the National Pest Management Plan could look like and ways to action it. We’re doing this over time so everyone who wants to has a chance to have their say.
We’ll visit the following areas for hui on the first round of consultation. There’ll be a mix of marae and community venues during the day and in the evening, open to everyone:
Northland
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Monday 2 July
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Northland
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Tuesday 3 July
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Waitakere
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Wednesday 4 July
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Thames
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Thursday 5 July and Friday 6 July
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We’ll be back in touch soon with more detail about the times, venues and agenda. In the meantime, please make a note of these dates and pass this information to your members or communities who may be interested in contributing to the future of kauri.
If you can’t make the hui, there are other ways to have your say. We’ll tell you more about those in our next email.
For any questions please reply to kauridieback@mpi.govt.nz we’ll get back to you.