WATCH: Online Shopping
Costa challenges us to be aware when shopping online – that we don’t get more than we bargained for! Buy from reputable traders and always check the packaging for any suspicious hitchhikers like larvae, soil and bugs.
Did you know that biosecurity starts in the home? Shopping online has increased the availability and accessibility of food, clothing and other goods worldwide. With this convenience however, comes the risk of bringing in unwanted pests, weeds and other contaminants from overseas that could stow away in our packages and become established and wreak havoc in Australia.
Do you have a backyard veggie patch, or perhaps you have a few backyard chooks scratching about? Encouraging good bugs like bees and lady beetles and controlling plant pests are essential for growing and maintaining healthy fruit and veggies in your backyard.
Caring for backyard chooks can be fun if you follow a few simple rules! Give a chook fresh food, water, shade, space to scratch about and a safe place to roost - beware of those pesky foxes – and they’ll give you eggs, help reduce household waste (they love your leftover greens!) and provide fertiliser for your veggie patch! Now that’s a clever chook!
We all have a role to play in protecting our environment, plants and animals from biosecurity baddies and this starts with what we do in our homes. Check out these resources to see how you can 'Be a part of it' at home and in your backyard.
Good Bugs
WATCH: Good bugs - Lady bugs
Join us as we learn about these important “super pest controllers” that patrol your veggie patch, protecting your veggies!
PLAY: Best Beekeeping
Get the buzz on your bees, and don’t get caught in a sticky situation.
WATCH: Good bugs - Bees
Did you know there are more than 1,600 species of bees that are native to Australia? Join Costa and learn how to encourage happy, healthy, busy little pollinators!
LISTEN: Honey bee special
Get the buzz on bee keeping, pollination and honey making! Join Elizabeth Frost, Honey Bee Technical Specialist with the NSW DPI, as she gives Costa the low down on honey bees in Australia and some of the surveillance activities & programs that are helping to keep our bees buzzing.
Chook Care
PLAY: Backyard Chooks
Let’s get crackin’ and test your knowledge. Be a good egg and learn more about how to keep your chooks happy and healthy.
WATCH: Chook Care
Did you know chooks are the ultimate Biosecurity Champion’s pet? Costa shares the top five superpowers of chooks and you’ll be amazed to learn how with a bit of chicken magic, you can reduce your waste and maintain a healthy garden.
Garden Biosecurity
Put your garden biosecurity warrior skills to the test and see if you can spot the problems.
Listen: Backyard Biosecurity
Slap on your happy goggles and get with the biosecurity program at your place. Costa is diving headfirst into your backyard bliss and getting forensic with his panel of eco rockstar experts and special guests. They’ll be exploring how caring for your bees, chickens, other animals and veggies and keeping an eye out for unwanted insects and weeds protects the food we all eat and the natural world that we all love so much.
Recorded in front of a live audience at the 2019 Sustainable Living Festival, in Melbourne, this podcast will inspire you to join with 20 million pairs of eyes across the nation on the hunt to help protect our economy, environment and community from exotic pests.
