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BioAgora partners contribute to the German Biodiversity Assessment

30 Jul 2025 / Partner news

A crucial element of effective and actionable biodiversity policy at various scales is its grounding in comprehensive and far-reaching research data. Recent endeavours such as the Nexus Assessment and the Transformative Change Assessment of IPBES serve as a testament to this fact at the global level. Nevertheless, national perspectives are also vital to understanding biodiversity prospects, issues and challenges.  

One important recent project dedicated to providing such insights is the German Biodiversity Assessment Faktencheck Artenvielfalt, which was led by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF), more specifically its Research Initiative for the Conservation of Biodiversity (FEdA). Over 150 authors from around 75 institutes and several additional experts stand behind this effort as a pathway to two central goals: 

  • comprehensively analysing the current state of knowledge on biological diversity in Germany 

  • evaluating options for action to conserve and use biological diversity sustainably, thereby bringing Germany closer to international targets and commitments 

BioAgora partner Josef Settele of the Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research (UFZ) is among the members of the editorial team lending their expertise in the compilation of the expansive study. Anja Schmidt, also a member of UFZ and the BioAgora consortium, contributed as part of the coordination team and as one of the numerous researchers producing the assessment. Faktencheck Artenvielfalt is the first of its kind, underpinning the following topics: 

  1. status and trends in biodiversity 

  1. the impact of those factors on ecosystem services 

  1. direct and indirect drivers of biodiversity change 

  1. instruments and measures to promote biodiversity 

  1. mechanisms for societal transformative change moving towards sustainability 

The summary of the assessment for societal decision-making is now freely available in English and can be downloaded here, with the full assessment to follow later this year. An explanatory video of the initiative can be found on this page.