Bundesamt für Naturschutz (BfN)

Short description

The German Federal Agency for Nature Conservation (Bundesamt für Naturschutz – BfN) is the German government’s scientific authority with responsibility for national and international nature conservation. BfN is one of the government’s departmental research agencies and reports to the German Environment Ministry (BMU). The Agency provides the German Environment Ministry with professional and scientific assistance in all nature conservation and landscape management issues and in international cooperation activities. BfN furthers its objectives by carrying out related scientific research and is also in charge of a number of funding programmes. BfN additionally performs important enforcement work under international agreements on species conservation and nature conservation, the Antarctic Treaty and the German Genetic Engineering Act.