Federal Agency for Nature Conservation

The Federal Agency for Nature Conservation (Bundesamt für Naturschutz, BfN) is the German government’s central authority for national and international nature conservation. As a scientific authority, it advises policymakers, provides the government with a scientific basis for nature conservation and ensures that nature conservation law is implemented. In particular, BfN supports and advises the Federal Environment Ministry in all aspects of nature conservation, landscape management and international cooperation. Since its establishment in 1993, BfN has been situated in Bonn. It also has offices in Leipzig and on the island of Vilm near Rügen, where the International Academy for Nature Conservation (INA) is based.

The Federal Agency for Nature Conservation is the umbrella organisation for nature conservation in Germany. It is the official body responsible for all issues relating to nature conservation and landscape management. The Federal Agency for Nature Conservation

• advises the German government on the basis of the latest scientific findings
• oversees the Federal Nature Conservation Fund with funding programmes such as the Federal Biological Diversity Programme, Germany’s Blue Belt floodplain programme, large-scale nature conservation projects (chance.natur), the Wilderness Fund and the National Species Recovery Programme
• oversees coordination of the Action Plan on Nature-based Solutions for Climate and Biodiversity
• is the enforcement authority in the Exclusive Economic Zones (EEZ) of the North and Baltic Seas and has key enforcement functions related to international species protection (CITES) under the Nagoya - Protocol, the Genetic Engineering Act, the EU regulation on invasive species and the Antarctic Treaty
• supports administrations and associations in their practical work
• carries out research on nature conservation and landscape management in its function as a departmental research organisation and commissions research projects
• operates various information systems related to nature conservation
• publishes the Red Lists and the magazine "Natur und Landschaft" (Nature and Landscape) and has its own series of publications dedicated to nature conservation issues
• hosts a forum with the International Academy for Nature Conservation (INA) to discuss and solve national and international issues related to nature conservation, and to bring together stakeholders from public authorities, science, business, associations and foundations

BfN aims to provide information to experts from all fields of nature conservation and to the interested members of the general public. The agency also offers fast access to reliable and well-founded information about nature conservation and landscape management issues on special portals:

• nationwide central literature documentation and information (in German)
• information systems on landscapes, landscape plans, international species conservation and Natura 2000 sites
• the portals Floraweb, Neobiota, FFH-VP-Info
• map services for protected areas, alluvial meadows, landscapes, seabirds and harbour porpoises
• online applications for the import and export of protected species (CITES-online)
• online information service for children called Naturdetektive