Left to right: Nicola Grigg, Angela Bownes, Adam Griffin and Arnaud Cartier in the containment facility
Nicola took us up on the invitation in late March, visiting our facilities along with Parliamentary Assistant Adam Griffin. We covered the basics of weed biocontrol practices and shared some of New Zealand’s historical and emerging success stories. While learning about research funding and the regulatory process for introducing biocontrol agents, a key point of the discussion was the model of operation of the National Biocontrol Collective (NBC). The NBC provides an example of a nationally coordinated approach to prioritising weed targets, and to pulling resources together for the greater good – two of the key issues identified by the Commissioner as currently lacking in the approach to managing environmental weeds in New Zealand.
The visit also highlighted – not for the first time – how little is known ‘out there’ about weed biocontrol and how successful and beneficial it can be. Nicola mentioned she had noticed how dramatically ragwort (Jacobaea vulgaris) had declined since her days growing up on a farm, when she had to be vigilant about preventing her horses from ingesting this toxic weed. Yet she had not been aware that biocontrol was behind this spectacular decline.
Nicola Grigg (left) and Arnaud Cartier (right) the Honshu white admiral rearing greenhouse
We finished up the visit at the containment facility, where Nicola and Adam got to see the tutsan beetle (Chrysolina abchasica) and the field horsetail weevil (Grypus equiseti). As a last stop, they popped into the Honshu white admiral (Limenitis glorifica) rearing greenhouse for an experience of being surrounded by butterflies.
Nicola has a strong interest in the sustainability of New Zealand’s primary industries, where weed biocontrol has an important role now and, possibly even more so, in the future.
Thank you for the visit, Nicola and Adam!
