Sentinel gardens (a KVH-led project as part of the Tauranga Moana Biosecurity Capital initiative) contain host plants that are attractive to specific threats and diseases. They can be placed at various spots throughout the Tauranga Moana region.

The gardens could provide early warning indications of insects or pathogens that could affect kiwifruit orchards so are monitored regularly for any signs out of the ordinary. The gardens are also a creative and fun way to build community awareness and surveillance skills and raise biosecurity awareness outside the classroom. If a biosecurity threat is found, a report to Biosecurity New Zealand can be made immediately.

There are currently sentinel gardens at St Thomas More Catholic School in Mount Maunganui and St Mary’s School in Tauranga – the wonderful students from both schools have produced videos about their gardens, telling us how they work in teams to monitor them on a daily basis and what they do if they spot anything unusual.

Watch the videos on the KVH You Tube channel here.