Biosecurity Commons will work with Forest and Wood Products Australia (FWPA) to provide its groundbreaking analytics for the detection of exotic forest pests.
The project aims to address a gap in the modelling of exotic forest pests into Australia which is hampering efforts to implement efficient surveillance strategies.
The modelling tools and analytic workflows of the platform will improve post-border surveillance to increase the chances of early detection and eradication success before significant impacts on forests occur.
The announcement marks another significant development for Biosecurity Commons, the ground-breaking platform for modelling and analysing biosecurity risk and response, as it continues to expand and partner with industry.
Dr James Camac, Project Manager at Biosecurity Commons, said: “This project is great news for Biosecurity Commons and we cannot wait to start working with FWPA.
“This project promises to revolutionise forest product biosecurity by facilitating innovation, collaboration, and reuse of previously one-off biosecurity analyses in a user-friendly online platform.”
Using the platform’s workflows will enable evidence-based decision-making regarding post-border surveillance design. This will consider the economic constraints of surveillance programs and the modelled spread of exotic forest pests to optimise pest traps.
The project will also produce spread models and surveillance optimisation models for five forest pests. These will be available to users who log in to the platform which they can run themselves or modify for other similar species.
Jo Morris, Program Manager, Planet Research Data Commons, Australian Research Data Commons (ARDC), said: “The new collaboration with FWPA highlights the capability of Biosecurity Commons to enhance research and inform decision-making regarding biosecurity risks and responses.
“As a component of the Planet Research Data Commons, Biosecurity Commons contributes to one of Australia’s most extensive digital research infrastructures for environmental sciences, providing researchers, government and industry with access to trusted datasets and models for research, policymaking and decision-making.”
Find out more from the FWPA website.
If you are interested in working with Biosecurity Commons, please get in touch.
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Photo: Forest in New South Wales. Caption: Unsplash
