EURAPMON

{frontpage}{/frontpage}Owls and birds of prey (commonly known as raptors) are top predators with a specific role in ecosystems which makes them susceptible to environmental change and as such useful environmental change indicators. The aim of European Science Foundation project EURAPMON (Research and Monitoring for and with Raptors in Europe«) is establishing international network and cooperation in research and monitoring of raptor populations and of presence of environmental contaminants due to biomagnifications in raptors.

Owls and birds of prey (commonly known as raptors) are top predators with a specific role in ecosystems which makes them susceptible to environmental change and as such useful environmental change indicators. The aim of European Science Foundation project EURAPMON (Research and Monitoring for and with Raptors in Europe«) is establishing international network and cooperation in research and monitoring of raptor populations and of presence of environmental contaminants due to biomagnifications in raptors.

Raptor monitoring is already established in some European countries but there is a need to reinforce national and sub-national initiatives and improve coordination at pan-European scale. EURAPMON’s objectives are: (1) to establish a sustainable and resource-efficient Europe-wide network for monitoring for and with raptors, linked to international networks; (2) to establish consensus on Europe-wide priorities for monitoring for and with raptors,
based on a comprehensive inventory of existing monitoring and of needs of key users (policy makers, risk assessors, environmental managers); (3) to spread best practices and build capacities in Europe for harmonised monitoring for and with raptors; and (4) to build a web-based database, populated with interoperable data on European raptor populations and (contaminant and other) pressures on raptors in Europe, and to produce European- and EU-scale analytical outputs which meet priority user needs.

EURAPMON is funded by 15 European research organizations (including Slovenian Research Agency). Steering Committee includes 15 members and 6 Advisory Experts. At the end of 2012 Assist. Prof. Al Vrezec became the new Chair and Dr. Irena Bertoncelj the new coordinator, both affiliated with National Institute of Biology in Slovenia.

More information about the consortium, activities, results and the contact details of National Coordinators can be found on the project website www.eurapmon.net.