Registrations are open for the B3 Conference May 17 – 18, 2021 being held in Wellington.
Director David Teulon says organisers have put together an impressive line-up of presenters and presentations that include keynote speakers Dame Juliet Gerrard and Melanie Mark-Shadbolt.
MPI’s Penny Nelson will also speak at a special breakfast event to recognise the International Year of Plant Health 2020 (IYPH) at its 2021 Conference. This event has been extended into the first half of 2021 due to COVID-19. IYPH 2020 has been a great opportunity to raise global awareness on how protecting plant health can help end hunger, reduce poverty, protect biodiversity and the environment, and boost economic development.
Border biosecurity underpins the economic prosperity and environmental health of New Zealand and this has become especially evident during these COVID-19 times. The fourth B3 Conference brings together New Zealand’s communities of interest for plant border biosecurity research and uptake that includes government, industry and science (CRIs, universities) representatives, students as well as wider community interests including Māori. We are pleased to be co-hosting this conference with the Plant Biosecurity Research Initiative (PBRI), Australia.
This year’s B3 Conference will reinforce the importance of science for an effective border biosecurity system to safeguard the security and welfare of our natural environment, to protect retain and build value in our important plant systems, and provide investor confidence for continued sector growth and innovation, as well as maintaining important market access for exports from our forestry, horticulture, arable and pastoral agriculture industries.