iBOL, the international Barcode of Life organization, launched a program called BIOSCAN (https://ibol.org/programs/bioscan) at the International Barcode of Life Conference in Norway in summer 2019. 40 nations, including Austria, take part in the program (https://ibol.org/about/science-committee/). The cost of building a global biodiversity monitoring network on our changing planet using DNA barcoding is estimated to be around $ 180 million.

By 2026, BIOSCAN has set itself the goal of (i) generating DNA barcodes from 2 million species as references for genetic determination, (ii) genetically characterizing biodiversity at 2,000 locations worldwide and (iii) characterizing interactions between species.

In a first step, the biodiversity of 2,500 locations will be characterized using malaise traps. The locations are selected to cover as many of the global ecoregions as possible according to Olson (2001). Malaise traps are installed at each of these locations for one year and emptied once a week. Malaise traps became well known through the study of the massive decline in insect biomass in Germany.

In 2020 ABOL participates in this program with two locations in the Pannonian ecoregion, one in the Wienerwald Biosphere Reserve and the other in the Neusiedler See – Seewinkel National Park. Thanks to the Austrian Federal Forest and the Biological Station Illmitz, who each agreed to operate the trap for one year.