Submitted by Hannah Nevel on the 2020 winter session program in New Zealand sponsored by the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering…
As I’ve learned throughout my last couple weeks here, New Zealand makes bio-security one of their top priorities. As you go through security, you can’t have any food, any shoes that may have bio-materials on them, and they will fine you $400 NZ if you don’t declare these things going through. I learned more about this on my hike of Routeburn Track. The local ranger explained to us that if we took any clothing or shoes in the nearby lake, we would need to clean/soak them before moving on to the next lake. This is because algae from one lake is not currently found in the other lakes, and if it is spread, it would wreak havoc on the lakes’ environment. It is amazing to see the benefits of their methods; there are no ticks here, no snakes, and no diseases that are often contracted/carried by insects such as mosquitoes and ticks. Taking good care of the environment and land is very important to the people of New Zealand, and it is sad to say that this differs greatly from the mindset I see in the United States.