Have your say on honeysuckle stem-boring beetle
Have your say on honeysuckle stem-boring beetle
The Environmental Protection Authority invites submissions on an application to release the honeysuckle stem-boring beetle Oberea shirahatai, as part of a biological control programme against the weed Japanese honeysuckle.
The application has been submitted by the Hawke’s Bay Regional Council on behalf of the National Biocontrol Collective which represents 12 regional councils/unitary authorities and the Department of Conservation (DOC).
The applicant states Japanese honeysuckle is a weed of concern throughout New Zealand, particularly in the North Island. It is designated as an A-category invasive weed by DOC and is spreading rapidly into public conservation land.
Public
submissions are an important part of the process for
considering applications to release new species into New
Zealand, and the EPA encourages all submissions.
The submission period for this application will start on 3 March 2015 and will end at 5pm on 16 April 2015.
ENDS