Biotechnology Research Roadmap - Science and Innovation

6.2.2 Directions: Environmental
Direction 6
The government will maintain long-term research capabilities to underpin and enhance biodiversity and
biosecurity management in New Zealand.
Effectively managing New Zealand’s indigenous
biodiversity and biosecurity regime is highly important
for New Zealand. It requires long-term underpinning
research and the curation and management of
indigenous biodiversity data, including genetic data.
Much of this data is currently housed within nationally
significant databases and collections, for example,
biosystematics collections.
Policy work currently being undertaken by MoRST
aims to put in place a funding regime that is better
tailored to support “backbone” science investments 83
of New Zealand science. The backbone concept takes
the view that there are sets of research assets which
are required over the long-term to support a broad
range of RS&T activities. Work is currently underway
to define the criteria and protocols for investment in
research backbone. Biotechnology research assets
underpinning biodiversity and biosecurity are being
included within this process.
Biosecurity New Zealand in partnership with MoRST
is currently developing a Biosecurity Science,
Research and Technology Strategy. The completion
of this strategy will more clearly articulate the
biosecurity research that the government requires.
Recent changes to New Zealand’s RS&T system to
introduce longer-term, negotiated research funding
to areas of critical public good research is also taking
research underpinning biodiversity and biosecurity
management into account.
The Environment Research Roadmap provides
more detailed directions for biodiversity and biosecurity
research, particularly with regards to data management,
which also apply to biotechnology research (see
box below).
Roadmap Cross-over – Roadmaps for Science: Environment Research
The Environment Research Roadmap recommends that research effort is concentrated around a series of
broad research areas. This includes global environmental change, the sustainable use of land, water and coasts
and sustainable urban design.
Both Roadmaps have complementary roles to play addressing specific environmental sustainability challenges.
For example, in the case of climate change, environment research focuses on investigating the physical aspects
of climate change and climate modelling projections whereas biotechnology research will play an important
role in helping provide solutions for New Zealand specific challenges, like agricultural methane emissions.
Areas identified for concentrated research efforts which cross over with this Roadmap are biodiversity and
biosecurity. The Environment Research Roadmap signals the need for a more integrated, systems-based
approach to managing biodiversity and biosecurity data and information systems. This also includes the need
for biodiversity agencies and science providers to work together to assess the needs for long-term research that
underpins biosystematics research capabilities, collections and databases.
Short term actions:
MoRST to consider biodiversity and biosecurity management requirements as part of ongoing policy work
to define the criteria and funding management needs for research backbone.
FRST to include this research area as part of the longer-term negotiated funding processes.
FRST to take account of the research directions set in the government’s upcoming Biosecurity Research
Strategy and the Environmental Research Roadmap.
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Backbone investments within Vote RS&T include essential infrastructure, nationally signifi cant databases and collections, and functions related to core tasks of
government such as the Measurement Standards Laboratory.
Roadmaps for Science : biotechnology research
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