Coordination of environmental specimen banking in the Nordic countries, its mission and strategy

Abstract

Under the authority of the Nordic Council of Ministers and their Working Group for Environmental Monitoring, a project for coordination of environmental specimen banking in the Nordic countries started in 1991. The project covers the established and planned central environmental specimen banks in Sweden, Norway, Denmark and Finland. The aim of the project is to coordinate and harmonize procedures and methods used in specimen banking such as, collection of material, transport, preparation and storage. In order to increase the possibilities for future international cooperation in monitoring and ecotoxicological scientific work, the Project Group will form the strategy for the continuing work in the Nordic countries. The Project Group will propose adaptation to commonly utilized methods for morphometric measurements of specimens and collection of some common species for future monitoring. The national responsibility for specimen banking in an international perspective will be emphasized.