Europe’s biologists gathered in Ibiza

The bi-annual ECBA Council meeting took place in Ibiza from 21.-24. Sept. 2017.

ECBA delegates from Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, Norway, Portugal and Austria met, joined by representatives from the European Young Biologists and Biologists representing Latin America.

Main topic of this 4 days meeting was the revival of a strong collaboration between the national associations and to discuss the future and the challenges of biology and biologists in these days and this decade.

During the meetings, ECBA biologists met also governmental representatives and local NGOs, which face different challenges. Invasive species are a major threat to the endemic species of Ibiza, furthermore the threatening plans of oil exploration in the Mediterranean Sea and the massive tourism, who brings challenges such as stuffed landfills, water scarcity and pollution. The European Countries Association therefore released a couple of press releases to show support to these precious initiatives and donated a microscope to the CREM (Centro de Recuperación de Especies Marinas) at the Aquarium Cap Blanc to foster it’s effort towards education in marine biology.

The next ECBA Council Meeting will take place in Norway in 2019.