With the arrival of summer, Biosecurity Tasmania is urging visitors, and all Tasmanians, to be extra vigilant for potential biosecurity risks they may bring with them on the journey to Tasmania and to remember the Biosecurity Basics – Come in Clean, Check your Bags, Stay on the Path, and Report anything Unusual!
A forgotten piece of fruit in your luggage, mud caked on vehicles and equipment, clothing or footwear and recreational equipment that has not been checked and cleaned, can potentially have a serious impact on Tasmania’s primary industries, environment, and our way of life.
The Biosecurity Basics are simple, yet practical actions we can ALL take to help protect Tasmania from the negative impacts of pests, weeds and diseases.
Check your Bags is an important Biosecurity Basic action. You may not even realise that you are bringing a biosecurity restricted item into the state when you visit or return home. Take a few extra minutes when preparing to travel to Tasmania to ensure you are not bringing fruit and vegetables, some animal and seafood products as well as plants, soil and seeds.
Many pests can hitchhike their way into Tasmania inside an item in your luggage. For example, the larvae of the tiny but dangerous fruit fly may be lurking in an uneaten apple. Dispose of these items or declare them on arrival. Your actions can help Tasmania remain fruit fly free.
The same applies to buying items online or receiving gifts from friends and family overseas. Be sure to
Check your Parcels if ordering goods online. Also let your family and friends know about what they
can and can’t send to you in Tasmania.
Come in Clean is another simple Biosecurity Basic that can help prevent the introduction and spread of harmful pests and diseases. Mud on your vehicle, caravan or trailer could contain harmful weed seeds or other pathogens. Just as a single drop of water left inside the waders you used while angling in New Zealand could contain didymo. Also known as “rock snot”, didymo is a freshwater algae found in many rivers and streams in NZ and has caused serious damage to our neighbours’ river ecosystems, fish and the pleasures of fly fishing.
If you have visited rural areas or been around farm animals in Indonesia/Bali, you may have come in contact with soil or other organic matter that could contain the foot-and-mouth disease virus. Cleaning your clothing, footwear and any gear (or even leaving some items behind) before you return to Australia is vital to ensuring that our country remains free from this serious animal disease.
We all have role to play in helping to keep Tasmania free from the many biosecurity threats that are present in other Australian states and territories, and across the globe. We all have a
general biosecurity duty to take the necessary actions to protect Tasmania’s biosecurity – in fact, it’s the law!
Get to know ALL the Biosecurity Basics - visit the webpages today to find out more about how you can help protect Tasmania: https://nre.tas.gov.au/biosecurity-tasmania/biosecurity-basics