New Zealand’s biosecurity system faces increasing pressure from significant increases in goods and passengers, changing pathways and types of goods. All activities of the system need to work together cost-effectively to maximise the reduction of biosecurity risks under sharply constrained resources. In order to increase the efficiency of biosecurity investment and to identify opportunities for substantial improvement, NZ MPI needs to determine the relative contribution of a continuum of biosecurity risk management activities toward overall system effectiveness.

In response, Prof. Andrew Robinson (CEO and Chief Investigator with CEBRA) and NZ MPI have undertaken a project titled: Proportional value of interventions across pathways and layers of the biosecurity system.

This project builds on earlier CEBRA research that initiated the development of a framework to evaluate the comparative value of biosecurity. The outcome is that NZ MPI can estimate the value of various activities, including surveillance, readiness, and border interventions, by pest, in particular gypsy moth.