In 2019, the French Ministries for Ecology, for Research and for Agriculture commissioned INRAE and Ifremer to conduct a collective scientific assessment (CSA) on the effects of plant protection products (PPPs) on biodiversity and ecosystem services along the source-to-sea (i.e. terrestrial–freshwater–marine) continuum. This CSA, carried out between 2020 and 2022, is the fruit of a colaborative effort that mobilized nearly fifty scientific experts from public research organizations supported by three librarians.
Alonside Laure Mamy (INRAE UMR Ecosys) and Wilfried Sanchez (Ifremer), Stéphane Pesce (INRAE UR RiverLy EMA Team) served as one of the three scientific leads of this CSA.
In addition to its role in the scientific leadership, the RiverLy Research Unit made significant contribution to this CSA through the participation of three experts from its teams : Christelle Margoum (LAMA team), Véronique Gouy (PollDiff team) and Arnaud Chaumot (Ecotox team).

Dissemination and communication

The main conclusions of this CSA, were initially detailed in various reports that can be found here. in French and in English. These conclusions were then compiled in a Quae book which is freely available in both English  and French .
In addition nearly twenty scientific articles have been published in international journals (see list below) and the CSA’s findings have been shared at over 60 conferences, seminars or keynote talks organized by key stakeholders, including international organizations such as the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) and the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).
In France, a restitution conference was organised on May, 5, 2022.

The CSA also gained high visibility in French media (including more than 400 articles, such as coverage and interviews, in various print and broadcast media, most of which were reposted and promoted on various social networks) and several conferences and lectures were delivered to the general public as well as to high-school and university students.

Contribution to decision-making and public action

The CSA has become a key reference in the French environmental management framework and is regularly cited in official documents such as parliamentary reports from the French National Assembly ( examples below). This dissemination is largely due to the involvment of several CSA-team experts in politically-driven public debates. The conclusions of the CSA have been incoprorated into the elaboration of French public policies within the framework of various strategic plans, such as the ‘Ecophyto 2030’ strategy.

> Watch the hearing of the experts at the French National Assembly on July 13^th 2023

International articles (in Bold, co-authors from the RiverLy Research Unit)

• _{Amichot M, Bertrand C, Chauvel B, Corio-Costet MF, Martin-Laurent F, Le Perchec S, Mamy L (2024). Natural products for biocontrol: review of their fate in the environment and impacts on biodiversity. Environ Sci Pollut Res. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-024-33256-3}
• _{Bérard A, Crouzet O, Morin S, Pesce S (2023). Improved assessment of the impacts of plant protection products on certain soil ecosystem services requires better consideration of terrestrial microalgae and cyanobacteria. Environ Sci Pollut Res. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-023-31198-w}
• _{Bertrand C, Aviron S, Pelosi C, Faburé J, Le Perchec S, Mamy L, Rault M (2024). Effects of plant protection products on ecosystem functions provided by terrestrial invertebrates. Environ Sci Pollut Res. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-024-34534-w}
• _{Coutellec MA, Chaumot A, Sucré E (2024). Neglected impacts of plant protection products on invertebrate aquatic biodiversity: a focus on eco-evolutionary processes. Environ Sci Pollut Res. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-024-32767-3}
• _{Doussan I, Barthélémy C, Berny P, Bureau-Point E, Corio-Costet MF, Le Perchec S, Mamy L (2024). Regulatory framework for the assessment of the impacts of plant protection products on biodiversity: review of strengths and limits. Environ Sci Pollut Res 31, 36577–36590. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-024-33638-7}
• _{Faburé J, Hedde M, Le Perchec S, Pesce S, Sucré E, Fritsch C (2024). Role of trophic interactions in transfer and cascading impacts of plant protection products on biodiversity: a literature review. Environ Sci Pollut Res. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-024-35190-w}
• _{Fritsch C, Berny P, Crouzet O, Le Perchec S, Coeurdassier M (2024). Wildlife ecotoxicology of plant protection products: knowns and unknowns about the impacts of currently used pesticides on terrestrial vertebrate biodiversity. Environ Sci Pollut Res. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-024-33026-1}
• _{Larras F, Beaudouin R, Berny P, Charles S, Chaumot A, Corio-Costet MF, Doussan I, Pelosi C, Leenhardt S, Mamy L (2022). A meta-analysis of ecotoxicological models used for plant protection product risk assessment before their placing on the market. Sci Total Environ 844, 157003. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2022.157003}
• _{Larras F, Charles S, Chaumot A, Pelosi C, Le Gall M, Mamy L, Beaudouin R (2022). A critical review of effect modeling for ecological risk assessment of plant protection products. Environ Sci Pollut Res 29, 43448–43500. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-022-19111-3}
• _{Mamy L, Pesce S, Sanchez W, Aviron S, Bedos C, Berny P, Bertrand C, Betoulle S, Charles S, Chaumot A, Coeurdassier M, Coutellec MA, Crouzet O, Faburé J, Fritsch C, Gonzalez P, Hedde M, Leboulanger C, Margoum C, Mougin C, Munaron D, Nélieu S, Pelosi C, Rault M, Sucré E, Thomas M, Tournebize J, Leenhardt S (2023). Impacts of neonicotinoids on biodiversity: a critical review. Environ Sci Pollut Res. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-023-31032-3}
• _{Margoum C, Bedos C, Munaron D, Nélieu S, Achard AL, Pesce S (2024). Characterizing environmental contamination by plant protection products along the land-to-sea continuum:a focus on France and French overseas territories. Environ Sci Pollut Res. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-024-34945-9}
• _{Pesce S, Mamy L, Achard AL, Le Gall M, Le Perchec S, Réchauchère O, Tibi A, Leenhardt S, Sanchez W (2021). Collective scientific assessment as a relevant tool to inform public debate and policymaking: an illustration about the effects of plant protection products on biodiversity and ecosystem services. Environ Sci Pollut Res 28, 38448–38454. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-021-14863-w}
• _{Pesce S, Mamy L, Sanchez W, Amichot M, Artigas J, Aviron S, Barthélémy C, Beaudouin R, Bedos C, Bérard A, Berny P, Bertrand C, Bertrand C, Betoulle S, Bureau-Point E, Charles S, Chaumot A, Chauvel B, Coeurdassier M, Corio-Costet MF, Coutellec MA, Crouzet O, Doussan I, Faburé J, Fritsch C, Gallai N, Gonzalez P, Gouy V, Hedde M, Langlais A, Le Bellec F, Leboulanger C, Margoum C, Martin-Laurent F, Mongruel R, Morin S, Mougin C, Munaron D, Nélieu S, Pelosi C, Rault M, Sabater S, Stachowski-Haberkorn S, Sucré E, Thomas M, Tournebize J, Leenhardt S (2023). Main conclusions and perspectives from the collective scientific assessment of the effects of plant protection products on biodiversity and ecosystem services along the land–sea continuum in France and French overseas territories. Environ Sci Pollut Res.  https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-023-26952-z}
• _{Pesce S, Sanchez W, Leenhardt S, Mamy L (2023). Recommendations to reduce the streetlight effect and gray areas limiting the knowledge of the effects of plant protection products on biodiversity. Environ Sci Pollut Res. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-023-31310-0}
• _{Pesce S, Bérard A, Coutellec MA, Hedde M, Langlais-Hesse A, Larras F, Leenhardt S, Mongruel R, Munaron D, Sabater S, Gallai N. (2023). Linking ecotoxicological effects on biodiversity and ecosystem functions to impairment of ecosystem services is a challenge: an illustration with the case of plant protection products. Environ Sci Pollut Res. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-023-29128-x}
• _{Pesce S, Mamy L, Sanchez W, Artigas J, Bérard A, Betoulle S, Chaumot A, Coutellec MA, Crouzet O, Faburé J, Hedde M, Leboulanger C, Margoum C, Martin-Laurent F, Morin S, Mougin C, Munaron D, Nélieu S, Pelosi C, Leenhardt S (2024). The use of copper as plant protection product contributes to environmental contamination and resulting impacts on terrestrial and aquatic biodiversity and ecosystem functions. Environ Sci Pollut Res. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-024-32145-z}
• _{Pesce S, Sanchez W, Leenhardt S, Mamy L (2025). Preserving biodiversity from plant protection products demands to make them contaminants of re-emerging concern. Environ Sci Pollut Res. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-025-35945-z}
• _{Tournebize J, Bedos C, Corio-Costet MF, Douzals JP, Gouy V, Le Bellec F, Achard AL, Mamy L (2024). Prevention and management of plant protection product transfers within the environment: A review. Environ Sci Pollut Res. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-024-35496-9}

Book

• _{Leenhardt S, Mamy L, Pesce S, Sanchez W, Eds (2023). Impacts of plant protection products on biodiversity and ecosystem services. Quæ Editions, Versailles, 174 p. https://doi.org/10.35690/978-2-7592-3749-4  (French version : « Impacts des produits phytopharmaceutiques sur la biodiversité et les services écosystémiques ». Quae Editions, Versailles, 184 p. https://doi.org/10.35690/978-2-7592-3657-2)}

Parliamentary reports

• _{French National Assembly (Assemblée Nationale) (2023). Rapport (N°2000) fait au nom de la Commission d’Enquête sur les causes de l’incapacité de la France à atteindre les objectifs des plans successifs de maîtrise des impacts des produits phytosanitaires sur la santé humaine et environnementale et notamment sur les conditions de l’exercice des missions des autorités publiques en charge de la sécurité sanitaire. P. 407  https://www.assemblee-nationale.fr/dyn/16/rapports/cepestici/l16b2000-t1_rapport-enquete.pdf  (in French)}
• _{French National Assembly (Assemblée Nationale) (2024). Rapport d’information (N°2113) déposé en application de l'article 145 du règlement, par la commission du développement durable et de l'aménagement du territoire, en conclusion des travaux d'une mission d'information sur les dynamiques de la biodiversité dans les paysages agricoles et l’évaluation des politiques publiques associées. P. 157. https://www.assemblee-nationale.fr/dyn/16/rapports/cion-dvp/l16b2113_rapport-information.pdf  (in French)}