Mission

The International Organization for Biological Control (IOBC) was established in 1955 as a global organization affiliated to the International Council of Scientific Unions (ICSU). IOBC promotes environmentally safe methods of pest and disease control. It is a voluntary organization of biological-control workers.

Membership in IOBC gives individuals and organizations the opportunity to participate in biological control activities beyond their specific jobs and workplaces, to step outside their bureaucracies, and to contribute to the promotion of biological control worldwide. See the statutes and by-laws.

The Mission in detail is:

• IOBC promotes the development of biological control and its application in integrated pest management programs, and international cooperation to these ends.
• IOBC collects, evaluates and disseminates information about biological control, and promotes national and international action concerning research, training of personnel, coordination of large-scale application and public awareness of the economic and social importance of biological control.
• IOBC arranges conferences, meetings and symposia, and takes other action to implement the general objectives of the organization.
• As an independent professional organization, IOBC can be an effective advocate for biological control, and can influence policy makers and Governments.
• IOBC assists in the communication among biological-control workers, through dissemination of the IOBC Newsletter.
• IOBC publishes a journal for basic and applied research on biological control of invertebrate, vertebrate and weed pests, and plant diseases. This journal is BioControl, published by Springer. Information about BioControl can be found at http://www.springer.com/life+sci/entomology/journal/10526

These aims require a regionalized organization of IOBC Global to fulfill the various tasks.