UNE Professor of Psychology Dr Don Hine will give a keynote address on the critical role of communities in tackling threats posed by invasive plant and animal species at the Australian Biosecurity Symposium this week (12-13 June) on the Gold Coast.

Dr Hine will discuss the importance of empowering landholders and managers (both private and public) to change their behaviour as part of nationwide efforts to reduce both economic and biodiversity losses.

The symposium will also see the launch of a new CSIRO publication that brings together five years’ of research by several UNE staff and students, funded through the former Invasive Animals Cooperative Research Centre (now Centre for Invasive Species Solutions). Community Based Control of Invasive Species asserts that pest problems are ultimately people problems, and explains how best to take collective action.

“The book provides different strategies on how citizens can become engaged in managing invasive species, how governing bodies can support their efforts, and what communication strategies will ensure good motivation and coordination of these efforts,” said lead editor Professor Paul Martin, Director of the Australian Centre for Agriculture and Law at the University of New England and leader of the Human Dimensions of Invasive Animals Management program on which the book is based.

The book is available online via CSIRO publications – http://www.publish.csiro.au/book/7809