In July the programme partners commissioned Independent Quality Assurance New Zealand (IQANZ) to conduct an independent review of the kauri dieback programme with the assistance of a generous grant from the Tindall Foundation. The purpose of the review was to provide a credible, independent view of the progress the Kauri Dieback Programme and to recommend opportunities for improvement and a suggested direction for the future. IQANZ have produced two reports; a high-level summary of findings and recommendations and a more in-depth report.
Programme Leadership Team response to independent review:
The Kauri Dieback Programme Leadership Team welcomes the views expressed by independent review of the programme.
It is pleasing to receive independent confirmation of the steady progress of the programme. The report acknowledges the effort put into getting the programme up and running and concludes that we have established a good basis for the future.
The report is timely, given we are in the midst of the business case for the future programme. We have factored many of the recommendations into our analysis, notably:
- Leading, not managing
- Planning better, not running faster
- Improving practice and stretching performance
- Investing in a wider range of research -over a longer horizon
- Allocating realistic resource levels
Other recommendations will be acted on once we've confirmed arrangements and funding for the new phase of the programme.
We thank Peter O'Connor of IQANZ for his professional and thorough approach to this work and the Tindall Foundation for their generous grant to fund Peter's work.