Research Coordination Objectives
- To identify, prioritize and/or detail further the research needs to be addressed in the short- or medium-term in order to create an efficient framework for pesticide ERA for amphibians and reptiles
- To continuously update and analyse the available information potentially useful to fill the gaps relative to the characterisation of pesticide exposure and effects on amphibians and reptiles
- To propose innovative strategies for implementing ERA schemes for amphibians and reptiles based on increasing representativeness and ecological relevance of the assessment while minimising animal use
- To design an ERA scheme, targeting a pesticide usage safe for herpetofauna, that can be further implemented by EU and national authorities across Europe and serve as a reference to authorities responsible for ERA around the globe
- To design a protocol for post-registration monitoring of pesticide risks to herpetofauna
Capacity Building Objectives
- To build a multidisciplinary critical mass of scientists from academia, government, business and NGOs to anticipate, and eventually face, future challenges relative to the potential impacts of pesticide use on European amphibians and reptiles
- To provide, through an interdisciplinary training program, graduate students and Early Career Investigators (ECI) with the competences necessary to conduct future research initiatives, in both private and public entities, focused on ERA of pesticides for amphibians and reptiles
- To foster capacities of risk assessors from EU and national registration agencies relative to judgement of pesticide risks to herpetofauna and to their consideration as part of the pesticide registration scheme
- To integrate different stakeholders, including industry, academia, environmental risk assessors, crop protection regulators, farmers, and environment-focused NGOs and scientific societies, for knowledge transfer and inter-sectorial feedback on the situation of amphibians and reptiles relative to pesticide usage in Europe