The German Federal Agency for Nature Conservation (Bundesamt für Naturschutz, BfN) is the central scientific authority of the German federal government for both national and international nature conservation.

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In the presence of the programme’s patron Prof. Klaus Toepfer, the fellows of the fourth cycle of the Klaus Toepfer Fellowship Programme (KTF) received their certificate in Bonn upon the successful completion of the programme. The extraoccupational training provides conservation professionals from Eastern and Central Europe, the Caucasus and Central Asia, essential technical knowledge as well as vital leadership skills. This also results in strengthening, their home institutions as well as building professional networks. By now, almost 80 professionals from 27 countries have successfully completed the KTF programme.

Information regarding the programm

Bonn, 8^th March 2019: A high-ranking delegation under the leadership of the Mongolian Minister for the Environment visits the German Federal Agency for Nature Conservation with the aim to discuss nature conservation issues. Thereby, "sustainable protected area management" is in the focus. The visitors are particularly interested in strategies and approaches to sustainable financing as well as the development of sustainable tourism and nature-friendly forest management in protected areas.

more International Nature Conservation activitys

The concept of ecosystem services bears the potential to better integrate marine nature conservation objectives in processes and decisions of public policy making. During an international workshop on marine ecosystem services in July 2018, participants from different countries and various disciplines seized the opportunity to present research results, exchange practical experiences and critically discuss theoretical and ethical foundations of the general concept.

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Are plants created with the help of new genome editing methods such as CRISPR/Cas to be regarded as genetically modified organisms? Are they covered by European genetic engineering law? The European Court of Justice ruled on these questions on 25th of July 2018: Organisms obtained by new genetic engineering are in principle subject to the European genetic engineering law.