Issue 1, 18 November 2005
Welcome to the first edition of Germplasm News produced quarterly by ERMA New Zealand to keep you up-to-date with the process for plant applications through the Hazardous Substance and New Organisms (HSNO) Act. We want to provide a forum for discussion for people interested in importing new plants into New Zealand about how to make the HSNO Act work for them. ERMA New Zealand has formed a Plant Importers Action Group which is responsible for the content of this newsletter. We encourage you to pass it on to your colleagues and friends involved in the importation of new organisms and invite you to contact us with your ideas for improving the HSNO application process. Future newsletters will focus on different application types with a view to illustrating the wide array of options available to plant importers.
ERMA New Zealand approves the release of four new species of plants
In September this year ERMA New Zealand approved the release of Wollemi pine (Wollemia nobilis). Well-known plant conservation scientist David Given made the application on behalf of Christchurch Botanic Gardens to import a single tree to grow in the gardens. The imported tree is a gift from the Australian government propagated from a small grove of trees in a secret location. This ancient tree, which evolved more than 100 million years ago and until recently believed to be extinct, will be on display in the Christchurch Botanic Gardens inspiring visitors and contributing to its conservation. Late in October 292 trees were sold at auction by Sothebys Australia with an average price of $ 3,875 (NZ) per tree.
Photo credit Jaime Plaza from the Botanic Gardens Trust.
Three species of palm, Dictyocaryumfuscum, D. lamarckianum and D. ptarianum were also approved for release in October. These tropical palms, native to the highlands of South America, are coveted by collectors of this popular group of ornamentals. The applicant Don Munro is grateful to the staff at ERMA New Zealand and says, 'They have bent over backwards to help me as "a very green apprentice", without their encouragement and advice, I would have given up long ago and New Zealand would be the worse for it.'
But wait there is more...
During the period July 2004 to June 2005 we provided advice to plant importers resulting in the addition of over 200 species of plants to the Plant Biosecurity Index!
While HSNO has been widely criticised for stemming the flow of new plant species into New Zealand a look through the archives reveals that the borders haven't been completely closed since 28 July 1998 (the date on which the HSNO Act came into effect for plants and other new organisms). ERMA New Zealand has only received eight release applications:
- 1 was declined
- 3 have been approved
- 4 have not gone beyond the stage of preapplication with applicants withdrawing due to the level of information required. We are conscious of the difficulties in finding information required to support applications but are keen to help point applicants in the right direction and help clarify the type and quality of information required.
It is our observation that criticism levelled at ERMA New Zealand for not approving applications to import plants is clearly because we have not received many to consider. We encourage anyone wishing to import new species of plants to contact us so that you don't get led down the garden path but rather successfully navigate through what sometimes is viewed as the maze of HSNO.
Check out our next issue for:
Advice on getting plant species added to the Plant Biosecurity Index - it's not as hard as you may think…
Contact:
Geoff RidleyScience Manager, New Organisms
Geoff.Ridley@ermanz.govt.nz
(04)9184795 Sonia Whiteman
Science Advisor, New Organisms
Sonia.Whiteman@ermanz.govt.nz
(04) 9184872