Foresty Research's biosecurity project needs you!

BALI's Technical Officer (Policy & Research) Owen Baker, alongside Dr Marzano of Foresty Research, want your help.

As professional professionals, we are expected to take the wider interests of the industry seriously. The work we do is of a high quality, we lead by example and ensure the landscape – whatever it may be – is left in a better state than when we started. 

Biosecurity is another area that separates the professionals from the rest.  Professionals ensure appropriate plants are selected, stock is responsibly sourced, planted according to site factors and monitored for pests and disease.

But exactly how do landscape professionals ensure they meet their biosecurity responsibilities? BALI wants to find out.

Together with Forestry Research, BALI would like to speak to as many of our contractor members as possible, and find out answers to the following questions:

• Who decides what plants you use in projects?
• How do specifiers and landscape professionals decide where plants are sourced from?
• How much does the profession know about biosecurity in general?
• What measures does the industry take to ensure biosecurity responsibility are met?

Dr Mariella Marzano from Forest Research would love to find out the answers to these questions either via a telephone call or a face-to-face meeting during a short interview. Using this anonymised information, Dr Marzano is looking to:

• Identify best practice amongst landscape professionals
• Gain a greater understanding of where the professional needs greater support in terms of learning about new threats and learning that landscape professionals may work in a way which prevents the spread of pest and disease

Interviews take around 30 minutes at a time that is convenient for you.

Dr Marzano has previously looked at attitudes and behaviours concerning biosecurity amongst the public, which members may wish to read: 

https://www.forestresearch.gov.uk/documents/1779/Consumer_survey_glossy.pdf

The research project is a great way of ensuring landscape professionals are engaged in government initiatives.  The government cannot be expected to second-guess the needs of the profession, just as the professional cannot be expected to know what is required of them in terms of biosecurity processes.  This research will help develop closer working relationships and ultimately, better, safer biosecurity initiatives.    

May I request any members who are willing to spare a little time for this research project drop me a line at owen.baker@bali.org.uk and I will pass your details to Dr Marzano.

Thank you