Marine litter has received a lot of attention by the public, scientific communities and policy makers. There is wide agreement on the need to reduce plastic and other litter, but its final destination still remains obscure. Large quantities of litter might be deposited on the seafloor but we are missing scientific knowledge about quantities, types and distribution. There is urgent need to enable quantitative assessments, to track pathways and to protect the vulnerable deep-sea environment.
The JRC has launched an online survey to collect information about stakeholders’ needs regarding suitable test materials for micro(nano)plastics research. The survey addresses all kind of stakeholders, such as scientists, research and monitoring laboratories as well as regulators. It will remain open until 24 January 2021.
A recent JRC report proposes an EU Pollinator Monitoring Scheme (EU-PoMS), to harmonise the systematic monitoring of the status and trends pollinators across the EU.
As part of the EU Biodiversity Strategy and a major milestone of the EU Pollinators Initiative, the scheme will now be tested and piloted in Member States.
The EU-PoMS aims to develop a cost-effective Core Scheme for monitoring essential pollinators (wild bees, butterflies, hoverflies, moths, rare and threatened pollinator species) across the EU using standardised methods.
In a Science article published today, an International team of researchers calls for greater consideration of soil biodiversity and functions in international conservation strategies, particularly when deciding on nature protection priorities and policies and new conservation areas.
A quarter of all known species live in the soil. Life above ground depends on the soil and its countless inhabitants. Yet, global strategies to protect biodiversity have so far paid little attention to this habitat.
The relevance of soils must be recognised far beyond agriculture.
Published last December, the 2020 edition of The State of Europe’s Forests (SoEF 2020) is a comprehensive summary on a multitude of forest aspects in the pan-European region. While the overall situation is stable, threats to forest health and economic sustainability remain high.
According to the report - produced by Forest Europe, with technical input from the UNECE, the FAO and the JRC – the European forest area increased by 9% over the past 30 years and, with 227 million hectares, now covers more than one-third of Europe’s land surface.
IPCHEM provides a wealth of occurrence data on chemicals present in our environment, food, indoor air, and even in our bodies. A JRC report describes recent highlights to show the value of IPCHEM in understanding chemical exposure to achieve key objectives of the Chemicals Strategy for Sustainability.
Chemicals are everywhere and are essential to our modern way of life. In addition to enjoying their benefits however, any potential risks to human health and the environment have to be anticipated and properly managed. And for this we need to know what chemicals end up where.
