A new initiative within the clean boats, clean ports framework was the establishment of Protect our Islands "Buddies".

Buddies work alongside the in-country teams responsible for invasive species management, to provide support in a targeted and responsive manner.

The Buddy’s role is to help implement new actions from the clean boats, clean ports framework checklist or to increase the frequency of ongoing actions, or any other activity within the scope of invasive species prevention that furthers the goals of PRISMSS Protect our Islands programme.

A Buddy could be a member of an in-country non-governmental organisation, or from outside, a retired local expert, a student intern, or a specialist from a regional agency or PRISMSS partner. Buddies are reimbursed for their time.

We were very grateful to the New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade for funding a pilot of the Buddies initiative through the New Zealand Department of Conservation.

The pilot allowed us to assist Tuvalu with capability-building on cane toad and other animal control to reduce the risk of harm to human health, biodiversity and economy, and enabled a review of Vanuatu's Biosecurity Emergency Response Plan. New Zealand Department of Conservation staff were heavily involved in the work.

The lessons learned in the pilot will help ensure a more effective complete rollout of the initiative. To request assistance from a Protect our Islands Buddy, contact PRISMSS support.