The well known character on Gardening Australia Costa Georgiadis is set to head up the program and share his knowledge. 

School students will find how they can support biosecurity as they take part in a live video program on Tuesday.

For students in the Wagga and southern NSW region Costa is a familiar face. The well known television personality attended the Lutheran School’s Sustainable Living Festival back in 2015. 

The Biosecurity in your backyard program is a NSW Department of Primary Industries (DPI) and Department of Education Distance Rural Technologies (DART) initiative.

DPI project coordinator, Sarah Britton, said Biosecurity in your backyard will be streamed live into schools across the state on Tuesday March 27.

“Solid biosecurity keeps farmers in business, maintains our export markets, keeps the community healthy and protects our environment,” Ms Britton said.

“Education is a vital component of our efforts to ensure the integrity of NSW’s biosecurity.”

Primary school students will meet biosecurity professionals who use science, technology and animals to protect our primary industries from pests and disease.

Students will learn the four golden rules of food safety and how to care for fruit and vegetable gardens at home and at school.

High school students will learn of the biosecurity risks posed by travel, imports and online shopping and take part in a question and answer session with Costa to discuss how we safeguard primary industries. Most importantly, students will learn what they can do to help protect Australia from invasive pests and diseases as they hear from scientists, educators and bee specialists.

Ms Britton said it will be an eye-opener for students as they experience the biosecurity risks in backyards and find how to manage or eliminate the risks. 

“Students will learn about biosecurity career paths they could follow and discover how they can play a role in our shared biosecurity responsibilities,” Ms Britton said.

Virtual excursions will be streamed into classrooms at 10am and 2pm from NSW DPI’s Tocal College in the Hunter Valley.