Sea anemone (Metridium senile) in the North Sea
"When we dive, we are always fascinated by the diversity and the beauty of the habitats and species which we discover there on the sea floor." (German Federal Agency for Nature Conservation, BfN)
Habitat Mare provides background knowledge and information on the German Federal Agency for Nature Conservation’s activities for the protection of marine biodiversity.
The Federal Agency for Nature Conservation has a long-standing national, European and global commitment to sustaining marine and coastal biodiversity. This commitment primarily targets the flora and fauna of open seas and coastlines including rare and threatened sea birds, marine mammals and fish species, and habitats of high conservation value such as sandbanks and reefs.
The key to effective marine nature conservation, and to work involving marine protected areas, is a big-picture approach that looks at ecosystems as a whole. Long-distance migrants need wide-ranging protection. Marine currents from far-away oceans affect habitats in our waters. Environmental harm from pollution and from activities such as fishing and marine transportation may call for action at global level. Pollutants entering rivers deep inland often traverse deltas and coastal shallows to be carried far and wide by currents at sea.
This all makes it only logical and consistent for Germany to join forces with its North Sea and Baltic Sea neighbours, and to contribute its knowledge and experience in regional and international activities to protect ecologically important marine areas.
At European level, these efforts include complying in national waters with the requirements of the Birds Directive, the Habitats Directive and the Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD), which must be implemented by all EU member states. One facet of this work is the creation of a network of marine protected areas as part of the pan-European Natura 2000 network. Natura 2000 is a network of protected areas on land and at sea. Its aim is to conserve and where necessary restore biological diversity. Germany leads by example in Europe with ten marine Natura 2000 sites nominated and designated, covering over 30 percent of the German North Sea and Baltic Sea Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ).
Germany has also made key contributions to marine nature conservation at global level in recent years. Initiatives to establish a well-managed network of marine protected areas stretching from the coast to the high seas by 2010/2012 form an important part of the work of the Federal Agency for Nature Conservation.
In May 2008, governments committed under the Convention on Biological Diversity to establish a global network of marine protected areas by 2012. BfN is playing a major part in efforts to attain this goal. Finally, BfN is involved in activities to conserve the terrestrial and marine biodiversity of the Antarctic.
