New Zealand has a long history of trying to protect its natural environment from exotic pests and plant and animal diseases, and some of the strictest quarantine laws in the world.

Quarantine officers first began checking imports at ports on a significant scale in the 1890s and their role expanded dramatically after the Second World War. By then quarantine authorities were monitoring the arrival of everyone and everything entering the country, whether by ship or by aircraft.

How did New Zealand’s biosecurity quarantine system get to where we are today? What’s changed along the way, and what is the “gunk” in the picture above (hint: it’s never been detected in the North Island) ?? Read the fascinating New Zealand History article here.