NIB is a partner in new COST Action »European Raptor Biomonitoring Facility – ERBFacility (CA16224)«, which is EU-founded (Horizon 2020) programme that enables researchers to set up their interdisciplinary research networks in Europe and beyond. Currently 25 states participate in ERBFacility (https://e-services.cost.eu/action/CA16224/overview/), which will last from 2017 to 2021.

The main objectives are to develop a framework for:

• (1) European Raptor Biomonitoring Scheme (ERBioMS) to detect temporal and spatial trends in contaminant exposure of raptors,
• (2) European Raptor Specimen Bank (ERSpeB) for the purposes of contaminant monitoring and
• (3) European Raptor Sampling Programme (ERSamP) to harmonise sampling methods for assessment of raptor samples and explanatory variables for raptor biomonitoring purposes.

The main aims of the Action are to network laboratories, specimen collections (mainly museums) and monitoring schemes for raptors. 


Main applicant of the Action is University of Oxford (UK) from where also the Chair of the action Guy Duke comes from, and the Vice-Chair of the action is Al Vrezec, representative of NIB and Slovenia in the Management Committee.