Show Notes
Season two of Under the Lens is here, and we are starting somewhere unexpected. Fellow co-hosts Amanda and Peter turn the lens on Nick Waipara, drawing on his 25 years in biosecurity to ask what a reimagined system would actually look like.
From the kauri dieback story and the community networks that first raised the alarm, to the gaps in our science system and the feast and famine of community funding, Nick is candid about where the system falls short and hopeful about where it is heading.
If you see something unusual out there in the environment, tell someone. Your observations could make the difference between a successful biosecurity response and an unsuccessful one. iNaturalist is a great place to start.
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Chapters: 00:00 Magic Wand Biosecurity 00:37 Season Two Kickoff 03:09 Sticks Versus Carrots 05:50 Research Ready Response 07:46 Trust Networks First 08:42 Kauri Dieback Alarm 14:19 Embedding Communities 17:52 Nick Origin Story 22:04 Reactive Funding Gaps 27:11 Skills Succession Crisis 30:24 Local Knowledge Wins 33:08 Vanishing Experts 34:41 Science Must Be Public 38:19 Communication Skills Shift 41:37 Building Community Trust 42:26 How Councils Manage Pests 44:51 Research Behind Policy Fights 51:46 Biosecurity Action Plan Future 56:06 International Links Local Weeds 59:27 Final Advice Report Sightings Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
More from Under the Lens
No one has said we don't need biosecurity. There are ways to do this. There are people with knowledge, there are communities who care, and there are ways to secure and protect the unique landscapes of Aotearoa.
Tame Malcolm (Te Arawa: Ngāti Tarāwhai, Ngāti Pikiao, Ngāti Ngararanui, Ngāti Whakaue) has spent his career getting people excited about the bush, the birds, and the ecosystems that make Aotearoa unique. Because as he puts it, no one protects what they don't know. In this episode the General Manager of Te Arawa Lakes Trust explores what biosecurity could look like if we wiped the slate clean and started from something uniquely ours, grounded in Aotearoa's own identity, culture, and knowledge.
Biology has changed. The amount of biological data we can now collect has exploded, from automated sensors at our borders to genomic data tracking where pests come from. But are we maximising the opportunities to gather insight that this data could offer?
Biosecurity is often thought of as systems and agencies. But communities, people, and places are also doing the long term work, often with little resourcing and even less say in how it gets done.
Your feedback, your questions and what’s coming next.