Bundesamt für Naturschutz

Environment protection and nature conservation policy relies on associations and organisations as partners. These inform and raise awareness among the general public, address new policy-related focus areas and provide environmental advice and education. Their work plays a key role in increasing public acceptance for effective environment protection and nature conservation policy. more

Germany’s waterways are to be restored to near-natural status. That is the aim of the Federal Government’s Blue Belt Programme (Blaues Band Deutschland), a joint initiative of the Federal Ministry of Transport (BMVI) and the Federal Ministry for the Environment (BMU). more

Biodiversity loss has been progressing on a dramatic scale worldwide for many years. As species, genes and habitats disappear, nature is depleted, thereby endangering and in some cases destroying resources vital to human life. It is therefore vital that ongoing biodiversity loss be halted. more

The research needs of the Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety (BMU) are documented in an annual departmental research plan (REFOPLAN). The projects contained in the REFOPLAN (formerly UFOPLAN) are designed to deliver research findings to aid decision-making concerning Federal Government policy on nature conservation and environment protection. They serve the preparation, review and further development of national and international laws, regulations and programmes, and the fulfilment of sovereign responsibilities and tasks concerning nature conservation. more

Forthe strategicmanagement of its research activities, the Federal Agency for Nature Conservation (BfN) has a medium-term research programme covering a five-year period, currently 2022-2026. The programme is developed in consultation with the Federal Environment Ministry and provides the framework for annual research planning in the departmental research plan. It includes medium to long-term research tasks andshort-term research priorities. The former comprise ongoing tasks and delineate BfN’s scientific expertise. The latter place the focus on thematic areas of relevance for the current five-year period. more

The Federal Agency for Nature Conservation (BfN) is the Federal Government’s scientific authority for national and international nature conservation. On the basis of the tasks assigned to it by law, BfN supports the Federal Ministry for the Environment (BMU) and performs the research needed for science-based policy advice. more

Digitalisation is a global megatrend that brings both opportunities and risks for nature conservation. BfN aims to analyse digital trends in order to align digitalisation with nature conservation by means of policy consultation, strategies and in-house projects. more

Nature conservation is a social compact. Arguments in favour of and measures for use in nature conservation therefore rely on broad social and political acceptance. more

Balancing the interests of socially acceptable land use with those of nature and landscape conservation is addressed by the goals of nature conservation-based landscape management and by the various monitoring and assessment tools applied in planning and approving interventions under nature conservation law. more

Tourism and nature-based sports are reliant on nature and an environment that are diverse and ideally intact. But they can also put pressure on animals and plants and on the habitats in which they live. This calls for environmentally, economically and socially compatible and therefore sustainable approaches and strategies that help minimise conflict and secure use of the natural landscape over the longer term. more