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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Bonn, 19 January 2021: The BfN has been supporting the further development of the UNESCO programme "Man and the Biosphere" in Africa for many years. The central instrument is the establishment of biosphere reserves as model regions for the implementation of the global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Now, the final report of a project, carried out in cooperation with partners from southern Africa and the German Commission for UNESCO, is available. The project contributed significantly to the nomination of the first UNESCO Biosphere Reserve in Eswatini. It enabled the networking of actors as well as the further development of capacities and the management of existing biosphere reserves in the region.  
To the final report

Bonn/Hamburg, 28 October 2020 : The BfN and the Thuenen Institute of Wood Research developed the CITESwoodID App. The App supports enforcement authorities, e.g. customs, to identify protected timber species such as mahogany and rosewood using an interactive identification key. It is an important tool for the protection of rare tree species. CITESwoodID is available free of charge in the App Stores of iOs and Android.

To the App Stores: Google Play or Apple AppStore

Bonn/Beijing, 9 October 2020: For over 12 years BfN and the Chinese Research Academy of Environmental Sciences (CRAES) have successfully cooperated in the field of biodiversity and ecosystem services. A central pilar of this cooperation is the organization of joint annual workshops, the last of which recently took place as an online seminar on the theme of “Integrating Nature-based Solutions for environmental and social benefits”. Today, BfN and CRAES formalized their existing partnership by signing a memorandum of understanding on the basis of which they are aiming to strengthen their scientific cooperation.

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Putbus/Isle of Vilm, 1 September 2020: 20 nature conservation experts from 13 countries joined the Klaus Toepfer Fellowship (KTF) last week. The International Academy for Nature Conservation (INA) of the Federal Agency for Nature Conservation (BfN) is offering the 18-month extra occupational training programme for the fifth time. The first part of the programme takes place online due to the corona pandemic.

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