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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Putbus/Isle of Vilm, 1. July 2021: BfN’s International Academy for Nature Conservation and the IUCN World Commission on Protected Areas (WCPA) have released a set of training materials on ‘Other effective area-based conservation measures’ (OECMs), to support awareness raising and capacity building. The training materials result from many years of cooperation between the two organizations.

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Berlin/Bonn, June 18, 2021: In the context of the National Preparatory Conference for the 15th UN Biodiversity Conference (CBD COP 15), the German Federal Environment Ministry BMU, the German Federal Agency for Nature Conservation BfN and the alliance “Kommunen für biologische Vielfalt” (Municipalities for biological diversity) call on Subnational, Regional and Local Governments to support the so-called Edinburgh Declaration. The Edinburgh Declaration carries the aspirations of cities and regions visibly into international biodiversity policy, calls for an ambitious post-2020 global biodiversity framework and gives impetus for action on the subnational levels. The signature strengthens city and region networks, Parties to the Convention and the European Committee of the Regions during the negotiations for an ambitious post-2020 global biodiversity framework and its implementation.

Common Communiqué (in German)

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Bonn, 11. June 2021: On June 14 from 2-4 p.m. CEST, the German Nagoya Protocol HuB (GNP HuB) will be hosting an online EU Access and Benefit Sharing (ABS) Networking Event for the European research community in order to reflect on “capacity building for users — gaps and ways forward into the future”. The GNP HuB is financed by the German Federal Agency for Nature Conservation (BfN) to help and guide academic researchers in Germany understanding Nagoya Protocol compliance. The GNP HuB provides information about ABS in countries that provide genetic resources for research, and the EU ABS Regulation No 511/2014 as well as the corresponding German implementing law. The event is organized in collaboration with the European Marine Biological Resource Centre, the Union for Ethical BioTrade, ABS-int, Wageningen University and Research and the Natural History Museum London.
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Bonn/ Cambridge, 25 May 2021: Affirming that trade in CITES-listed species is not detrimental to the survival of the respective species in the wild is one of the greatest challenges for CITES-Authorities when doing their so-called Non-Detriment Finding (NDF). Together with Traffic BfN has developed a step by step guidance (9-steps NDF) for this purpose for perennial plants and for timber. To make access to these guidances easier e-learning-courses have been developed and launched on 25 May 2021. They consist of the guidances, tests of the user’s knowledge, case studies to apply the content and a decision tree to facilitate working on real live cases.

Bonn, 19 May 2021: Scientists of the BfN, Cologne Zoo and the IEBR and WAR Vietnam found that the colour pattern of the Psychedelic Rock Gecko (Cnemaspis psychedelica) allows individual recognition. The rare and impressively coloured gecko is endemic to small islands of Vietnam and entered the pet trade shortly after its discovery in 2010. To regulate the international trade, the species was listed in CITES Appendix I. As a consequence, the individual marking of specimens in the EU is now mandatory according to EU legislation, while respective guidance is lacking so far. The recently published study provides guidance for CITES authorities on how to apply a photo documentation and recommends the use of a software.

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