- December 18, 2024
Members of the IOBC-EPRS Regional Section are invited to join WPRS
While most of the regional sections of IOBC define their areas based on globally accepted geographic and climatic criteria, there has always been a debate on the border between the East- and the West Palearctic Regional Sections. Both sections have their core parts in Europe, and the border between them has been artificial since the beginning, mostly reflecting the political landscape from times of the “cold war”.
The Executive Committee and the Council of IOBC-Global decided at their General Assembly at San José in Costa Rica on June 23, 2024, that it is high time to end this separation. By doing this, IOBC aims to support exchange and collaboration between as many biocontrol scientists and practitioners as possible across the entire Palearctic region.
According to the Statutes of IOBC-Global, members may request affiliation to any Regional Section. The historical border between EPRS and WPRS is therefore not binding. As a first step, IOBC-WPRS invites partners from eastern European countries, with whom it is already co-operating in research activities and meetings, to change their affiliation. On a mid-term perspective, this process may lead to a formal merger of the two regional sections into one.
