Peri-urbanisation and Biosecurity: a Planning Perspective

Biosecurity issues in rural areas including the rural-urban fringe have been on the national government agenda for decades. However, these issues are rarely linked to the land use pattern and the planning processes that frame the peri-urbanisation process. International, national, regional and localised stressors leading to each new biosecurity threat seem to constantly overshadow the ongoing technical advances and knowledge building. This paper proposes that it is time for land use planners to take a serious look at one of the stressors within their sphere of influence: management of the peri-urbanisation process. There is growing evidence connecting the land use patterns and natural resource management activities of the peri urban zone to various outbreaks of exotic and infectious organisms. It is also evident that the diverse range of biosecurity issues that emanate from, and are exacerbated by, activities within the periurban zone, is ever-increasing. Building upon the governance and land use challenges already present at the rural-urban fringe, this paper suggests a framework for land use planning to make a contribution towards addressing biosecurity threats in peri-urban areas. It highlights the need to incorporate a management response for biosecurity issues into peri-urban planning (pre-incursion) and through the land use planning process, facilitate the execution of the management response (post-incursion).