The Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development has announced that its Pantry Blitz 2021 biosecurity surveillance campaign is all set up and about to begin.
The organisers are calling on citizen scientists to help protect Western Australia’s agriculture industry and the environment from exotic pests and diseases.
Senior Development Officer at the Department, Rosalie McCauley (pictured) said the blitz, from 22 March to 18 April, would provide an opportunity to survey household pantries for ‘creepy crawlies’ and report them to the Department for identification.
“Pantry Blitz provides an opportunity for participants to discover what small ‘critters’ lurk on their property, while supporting WA’s biosecurity defences,” Dr McCauley said.
“Biosecurity is everyone’s business and the public plays an important role in the first line of defence by reporting observations of insects, pests, diseases and weeds.”
She said the public’s involvement in Pantry Blitz 2021 was crucial to provide verifiable evidence on the absence and presence of pests and diseases in WA to demonstrate area freedom and support access to valuable export markets.
“The data from Pantry Blitz is used in a variety of ways, from supporting area freedom assessments to assisting incident responses,” Dr McCauley said.
“The Department has been involved in several biosecurity responses in recent years to protect the State’s agriculture industry, including Queensland fruit fly, red imported fire ant, browsing ant and tomato potato psyllid.”
Interested Pantry Blitz participants can sign up via the Department’s website to receive a free trap for insects with more information available on this PS News link.
