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See also: Pest and disease threats to New Zealand

We need your help to keep watch for the brown marmorated stink bug. The brown marmorated stink bug (BMSB) is an agricultural, horticultural, and social pest. It's native to Asia and has spread throughout North America and Europe. It isn’t established in New Zealand, but this sneaky pest hitchhikes on passengers and imported goods. We’ve caught them at our border many times. We need everyone’s help to keep an eye out for them.

If you think you’ve found a brown marmorated stink bug – don't kill it.

• Catch it.
• Take a photo
• Call us immediately on 0800 80 99 66.

Invasive species are well known for their huge ecological costs, but they also bring a massive economic burden with sociological, environmental and health impacts. New research led by the University of Aberdeen and the University of Auckland in collaboration with CNRS, France has established that invasive species have cost the New Zealand economy almost $100 billion in the last 50 years. While damage costs remain high, this total includes spending far more than most other countries on pre and post-invasion management techniques relative to its GDP.

A new project, "Managing Invasive Species for Climate Change Adaptation in the Pacific", is underway to allow Pacific Island Countries and Territories (PICTs) to take stronger action against invasive species and thereby build resilience to climate change. Invasive species make ecosystems and communities more vulnerable to natural disasters and the impacts of climate change. They increase erosion, reduce food and fish production, and pose critical threats to ecosystem services and human health. Invasive species will become more widespread as disturbances, carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere, and temperatures all increase under climate change.

Find information on marine pests in New Zealand waters. Search collated national data and read about research and management of marine pests.

The Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) is on high alert to stop the invasive brown marmorated stink bug from making a home in New Zealand. The bug is likely to start showing up in imported cargo from the northern hemisphere. Brown marmorated stink bug is a serious horticultural pest in the United States and is also starting to spread through Canada and parts of Europe. The Ministry for Primary Industries and industry groups have been working together to prepare for the increased risk.

Biosecurity officials are promising to take tough action against cargo vessels believed to be infested with brown marmorated stink bug during the upcoming risk season. The risk season runs from September to April, when stink bugs from the northern hemisphere are most likely to crawl into cargo heading to New Zealand. Last season, biosecurity officers intercepted more than 2,500 individual stink bugs at the border, mainly on vessels and cargo.

The New Zealand Department of Conservation (NZDOC) and the Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP) officially signed a Declaration of Intent which sees the NZDOC become the first partner of the Pacific Regional Invasive Species Management Support Service (PRISMSS). The PRISMSS is a regional mechanism, which facilitates the scaling up of invasive species management in the Pacific. It provides management support for on-the-ground invasive species actions through streamlining and coordinating activities and invasive species management experts. It has five regional programmes, each with an expert who will lead in their respective field. One of these programmes is 'Resilient Ecosystem-Resilient Communities' in the area of relocation of species to restored habitat, which SPREP and NZDOC will be the leading experts of.

Prime Minister John Key has today announced the Government has adopted the goal of New Zealand becoming Predator Free by 2050. "While once the greatest threat to our native wildlife was poaching and deforestation it is now introduced predators," Mr Key says. These introduced pests also threaten our economy and primary sector, with their total economic cost estimated at around $3.3 billion a year. "That’s why we have adopted this goal. Our ambition is that by 2050 every single part of New Zealand will be completely free of rats, stoats and possums."

New Zealand is the first country to implement nationwide regulations to manage risks associated with biofouling on international vessels. The development of this regulation and its implementation can serve as a blue-print for other jurisdictions that are interested in preventing the spread on non-indigenous marine species.