Plant Pass Autumn 2024 Newsletter

April 2024

Auckland Plant Pass event a great success

The first Plant Pass Workshop of 2024 was held earlier this month at Auckland Council's Botanic Gardens, early adopters of the Plant Pass scheme.

The workshop, hosted by Biosecurity New Zealand and NZPPI, brought together plant producers, funders and buyers to take an in-depth look at Plant Pass nearly two years' on from its May 2022 launch. The purpose of the day was to enable further collaboration between Plant Pass Producers and Plant Pass Partners and to motivate others to come on board.

Plant Pass specialist Jacinta Harrop gave an overview of the scheme. Attendees also heard about Auckland Council’s Plant Pass Action Plan from plant pathologist Rebekah Fuller who detailed the activities that give effect to the council's commitments as a founding Partner.

Vinni Pather, Relationship Manager, GIA Partnerships and Shelley Ashton, Relationship Manager Regional & Business Engagements, Engagement Programmes co-facilitated a desktop readiness and response exercise based on a hypothetical Xylella fastidiosa incursion.

Attendees were able to consider the potential impacts of an incursion to their own operations and the wider community while identifying how Plant Pass certification can manage biosecurity threats. Workshop attendees were also treated to a tour through the gardens' certified nursery thanks to nursery manager Doug Ward.

One of the attendees, Janet Cole, Kaihautū |Chief Executive of the Kaipātiki Project said of the day:

“It was extremely valuable to attend the Plant Pass workshop and make new connections. The workshop progressed at the right pace for us all to gain insights, make contributions, ask questions and gather considerations to take forward into our own operations. We are very pleased to see Plant Pass gaining momentum across Aotearoa, driving positive change for the industry."

Upcoming Plant Pass events

The Plant Pass team has a further series of workshops and webinars scheduled this year. The events are open to anyone involved in plant production, plant biosecurity and the purchase of plants.

Webinars

If it is difficult for you to travel to the workshops or you need a refresher or specific information, the webinars are a fantastic opportunity to speak directly with Plant Pass specialist Jacinta Harrop and ask her anything about the scheme and your own biosecurity concerns. The webinars run for about an hour from 1:30pm-2:30pm on the following days.

Wednesday 24 April Thursday 30 May Thursday 27 June Thursday 25 July Thursday 29 August Thursday September 26 Thursday October 31 Register on the Plant Pass website and we'll send you the webinar link.

Workshops

The dates and venues for some workshop are still to be confirmed but people can still register their interest and we'll keep you posted.

June - Taranaki venue tbc June 21 July - North Auckland venue and date tbc August - East Coast venue and date tbc. September - Christchurch venue and date tbc October - Northland venue and date tbc Register for the workshops here.

Don't hesitate to email us at office@plantpass.org.nz anytime if you have any questions about Plant Pass and plant biosecurity.

Celebrating biosecurity excellence - AQ report on Kauri Park nursery

Native plant operation Kauri Park nurseries, which has sites in North Auckland and Palmerston North became Plant Pass certified earlier this year and received an outstanding audit.

Family-owned Kauri Park is one of New Zealand's largest commercial nursery. It grows and plants 20 million natives a year.

Senior Auditor feedback from Asure Quailty stated:

“It was one of my best times auditing for a long time. Terry Wearmouth and his staff dedication to create what they achieve so far is mind blowing! Being a family business, it is such an inspiration to see the young generation taking over the operation at the nursery and the restoration project they do."

"I was so impressed with young Oscar, operation manager & Vern Wearmouth’s son. His knowledge and enthusiasm while explaining the whole operation, the day-to-day task, the software they use for traceability make you believe in the importance of Plant Pass and the power of plants.”

This commendation from Asure Quality highlights the dedication to biosecurity excellence at Kauri Park and showcases their commitment to environmental sustainability and their role in nurturing the future leaders of ecological restoration.

To see all the Plant Pass biosecurity exemplars, check out our list of certified and registered producers. We encourage you to support them.

New Plant Pass Partners on board

We are pleased to announce that we have two new Plant Pass Partners.

Biosecurity Taranaki is a new collaboration that brings together iwi, hapū, agencies, industry groups, businesses, councils and community groups to take a collective approach to biosecurity will build resilience and strengthen the region. Biosecurity Taranaki’s participation as a Partner will further enrich our collaborative efforts to drive positive change for the plant industry.

We are also delighted to welcome Far Sky Consulting Ltd as a Partner. Far Sky Consulting is a new consulting firm dedicated to safeguarding plant health and the environment by promoting good biosecurity understanding and practice. It provides support across the nursery sector to encourage best practice biosecurity risk management.

We look forward to welcoming more Plant Pass Partners to the scheme as the year progresses.

NZPPI enhances disease management tool with extended funding and new crop models

NZPPI has received a further grant from MPI-Te Uru Rākau to extend the provision of myrtle rust disease management platform for a further two years.

HortPlus will add two new models for apple black spot and downy mildew to the existing myrtle rust management model. The myrtle rust model is being further updated for heavy rain risk and its effect on fungicide spray application.

The platform can be found on the NZPPI website here. It gives those who sign up access to a series of local weather stations and forecast information, to help identify risk periods for these diseases and plan management measures accordingly. In addition, HortPlus are developing a custom weather & disease report, which will be emailed weekly to NZPPI members.

NZPPI also has funding to continue access to the NIWA national maps for myrtle rust risk through to December 2024. The national maps show the overall myrtle rust disease pressure and are mostly used by land-management agencies, such as councils and DoC. Existing funding for these had expired, so NZPPI will host these and seek funding from land-management agencies to secure access to these maps in future years.

RNZ documentary on Plant Pass registered nursery, Arowhenua

RNZ has released a documentary series called Turning Point that follows a new generation of kaitiaki (guardians) who value the wellbeing of their whenua (land). The six part series give a glimpse into the lives of the passionate individuals behind Aotearoa’s conservation efforts.

The second episode focuses on Felicity McMillan, nursery manager at Arowhenua Native Nursery in Temuka, which is Plant Pass registered. The native nursery, which now produces 100,000 plants a month, is attached to the Arowhenua marae and its team's mission is to restore the Rangitata awa/river.

The documentary is a wonderful insight into how a plant nursery can develop and grow people and also totally transform the environment and improve water quality.

Well worth a watch.

Research identifies native plant species that are hosts for PVH

In 2021, Zespri and Plant and Food Research began a four year research to develop an integrated pest management plan for Passion Vine Hopper. One component of the research - of most interest of native plant producers - was to evaluate the host status of native plant species to PVH.

The study confirmed several plant species as poor or intermediate hosts of PVH (and therefore suitable for replant projects): kōwhai, putaputawētā, karo, lemonwood, Pittosporum tenuifolium, rewarewa as well as plants with needle like leaves such as totara, mānuka, kānuka and kauri.

More recently, four plant species - Coprosma robusta (karamū), akeake, hebe (koromiko) and Pittosporum colensoi - were found to be intermediate or good hosts of PVH.

The research is ongoing and there may be further updates to come as more results become available.

NZPPI Signs Solanaceae Biosecurity Agreement

NZPPI has signed the Solanaceae Readiness Operational Agreement (OA). This agreement is a partnership between NZPPI, Vegetables NZ, Tomatoes NZ & Potatoes NZ to collaborate on projects to manage a range of diseases that have impacted Solanaceae horticulture crops in recent years.

The horticulture sectors have responded to several incursions in the past few years, including Pepino mosaic virus (PepMV) and Potato spindle tuber viroid (PSTVd), with an increasing risk of further incursions that will result in considerable costs and crop losses.

Discussions are underway to develop systems to avoid and manage future incursions. Plant producers play a key role in the production process and in managing these risks.

Plant Pass at forestry conference

Plant Pass was invited to present at the Forest Biosecurity conference in Rotorua back in February. The conference focus was on Threats, Innovation and Control Strategies, and looked at emerging threats and issues and how to reduce risks and improve readiness.

The conference included robust panel discussions with representation from Find A Pest, Scion, and great insights were shared from Australia with presentations from Dr Helen Nahrung a Senior Research fellow who specialises in pest management, biological control, insect-plant interactions and biosecurity.

Plant Pass was an apt fit in the control session as a way to mitigate risk as a volunteer biosecurity system. It was pleasing to see there was already great awareness of the scheme, and keen engagement to see this implemented across the forestry sector with Partners and Producers alike.

New Plant Pass invoicing schedule

Plant Pass annual fees are usually due in April, however, to align with our financial year invoicing will be now sent out in July 2024.

The Plant Pass annual fee is remaining at $250.00 + GST. This fee covers your registration, including being listed as an active producer on the register list, the Plant Pass website, newsletters and social media promotion when certified.

If you would like your nursery to be a showcased as a Plant Pass case study online and/or in our next annual report then please contact us on office@plantpass.org.nz.

Remember our team is available with not only via workshops but also via webinars and one on one support as requested.

We appreciate your engagement to better biosecurity practices and are here to champion your business.