ROMSO Cyprus Knowledge Base

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The Naturschutzbund Deutschland e.V. (NABU) is a German non-governmental organisation with the aim of protecting nature and the environment. NABU implements concrete nature conservation at home and abroad. This includes the conservation of rivers, seas, forests and many other ecosystems as well as the protection of individual animal and plant groups and species. As one of the large, recognized nature conservation associations in Germany, he is committed to a good interaction between people and nature and is the national partner organization of BirdLife International.

The organization was founded in 1899 as the "Federation for Bird Protection", renamed itself after the merger with the sister association of the GDR in Nature Conservation Federation Germany and expanded its nature conservation goals. The organisation carries out specific nature conservation projects, maintains its own research institutes, carries out environmental education and informs media and citizens about important topics in environmental and nature conservation. NABU and all its subdivisions are a state-recognized environmental and nature conservation association (in the sense of the Federal Nature Conservation Act) and must therefore be consulted when intervening in the natural environment. In addition, he has a right to action under the Environmental Law Act.

At the end of 2022, together with the Bavarian partner LBV, the organization had about 830,000 members (NABU: 734,400, LBV: 95,300) and 81,000 sponsors. They are organized throughout Germany in about 2000 local groups. The President has been since 9. November 2019 Jörg-Andreas Krüger, the management are Susanne Baumann and Leif Miller.

Tasks and objectives
One of the tasks is the non-partisan, political work. The guiding principle here is a livable environment. The organization “interferes” on a legal basis, is involved in official nature conservation procedures and assesses interventions in nature. The main aim is to avoid environmental damage and to propose constructive, practical solutions.

One of the goals is to create awareness of nature and to inform about it. In addition to the preservation of individual protected areas, long-term solutions and a consistent rethink are required. This is why the organization brings the environment into the media – for example with campaigns for semi-natural forestry, ecological agriculture or ecological tax reform.
Around a hundred of our own nature conservation centres also offer information and environmental education throughout Germany. At the same time, practical conservation work is often done there by protecting and caring for a certain area.

Some members often practice practical nature conservation on site: They plant hedges, erect toad fences (amphibious protection) and thus protect endangered animal species. In addition, they manage more than 5000 protected areas. The organization is also internationally active and helps, for example, to save the World Heritage of Russia