Development of Future Strategies For Pest Management in Europe

Abstract:
Global warming together with global trade and tourism gives foreign organisms a lot of opportunities to enter Europe and to find suitable habitats to establish. A number of these species already have a status as pests in their native countries and now start to be of major concern in Europe. A growing rejection of synthetic insecticides by people is observed particularly in industrial countries. The use of these insecticides is restricted e.g. in food production by new national and European directives, and pest management is limited to monitoring and the use of baits in presence of foodstuffs. Consequences for scientific research and for the industry are to invest in insecticides with novel action with special focus to user- and eco-friendly properties. Existing resistance of pests against frequently used insecticides should be overcome by the development of compounds which interfere in the metabolism and nervous system of arthropods in different ways than conventional insecticides. Additionally new monitoring systems are required which will also detect alien species. Completely new control strategies without acute acting insecticides and baits, which can be used without risk of contamination of the environment, should be developed particularly for sensitive areas like food production, pharmacy, hospitals etc. Countries with a vegetation of high diversity (e.g. tropical rainforests) will have a major significance in the research and development of natural compounds for pest control in future.