The Centre of Excellence for Biosecurity Risk Analysis (CEBRA) has developed forecasting models that analyse border interception data on the brown marmorated stink bug, spongy moth, Asian honeybee, giant African snails and khapra beetles to estimate how many goods consignments they could contaminate.
The aim of these Australian researchers is to peer into the future to prepare for tomorrow’s biggest biosecurity risks. Changing climates and international trade flows to determine which pests will hit Australia hardest over the coming decades.
The CEBRA team has developed global interactive maps showing the likely exposure of pests over time depending on different climate change scenarios and its likely impacts on international trade patterns. The report is called “Forecasting trade and biosecurity risk under climate change” and a PDF version has been made available (Link) by the University of Melbourne.
The Department of Agriculture Fisheries and Forestry (DAFF) announced the research on the news & media pages of their website today. Deputy Secretary of Biosecurity, Operations and Compliance Justine Saunders said the project is a breakthrough for readying our biosecurity system for the future.
“This project will help inform our threat prioritisation, border screening processes, post-border surveillance and eradication activities,” Ms Saunders said.
“The forecasting model can be expanded to predict risks associated with human movement and assess threats from multiple species at once. Global macro trends are exacerbating the risk posed by pests and diseases. To prepare for these threats, it is critical to understand what impacts may occur and which sectors are likely to be affected if a post-border detection occurred.”
Ms Saunders said the projects highlight DAFF’s continuing commitment to protecting our agriculture, environment and economy.
Additionally, DAFF invites stakeholders to attend a Hitchhiker Pest Awareness webinar on 04 and 05 September 2024. This event will cover the critical role of industry in biosecurity, the increasing threat of hitchhiker pests, DAFF’s prevention initiatives, and how to identify and report detections.
The webinar will include real-life examples of pests reported to DAFF and how these reports have been managed. Tickets available from Humantix at this link.
Here is a link to a recent related article: Wand Detector for Hitchhiker Pests
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