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        UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration begins 5 June with a new peatland conservation guideline issued

        UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration begins 5 June more →

      • Ecosystem Restoration
        Restoring peatlands, sequestering carbon

        Restoring peatlands, sequestering carbon more →

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      • Hutan Harapan
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      • Ethiopia's Wild Coffee Forests
  • Topics
      • Ethiopia
        Green diversification of Ethiopia’s garden coffee value chain

        Ethiopia’s garden coffee value chain more →

      • Indonesia
        Protecting and restoring forests for future needs

        Protecting and restoring forests for future needs more →

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        Developing forest landscapes for livelihoods and climate adaptation in Southwest Ethiopia

        Developing forest landscapes in Southwest Ethiopia more →

      • Central Asia
         Wild, beautiful and endangered

        Wild, beautiful and endangered more →

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      • Projects worldwide
      • Europe: Peat Restore
      • Germany: Havel
      • Ethiopia: Coffee-novation
      • Ethiopia: Water for Life
      • Madagascar: Green coasts
      • Kyrgyzstan: Snow leopard
      • Indonesia: Hutan Harapan
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        How do we finance nature and climate protection?

        How do we finance nature and climate protection? more →

      • EU Policy
        The EU’s Common Agricultural Policy needs a drastic reform

        The EU’s Common Agricultural Policy needs a drastic reform more →

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        Support us with your donation or adoption

        Hoping is not enough more →

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        Nature conservation and regional development really have an impact – NABU knows this and acts on it.

        Help Africa’s nature by supporting one of our funds more →

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  • Presse
  1. Topics
  2. Ecosystems
  • Fishing for Litter
  • Havel
  • Hutan Harapan
  • LIFE Multi Peat
  • Iko Esai
  • Gas pipeline Nord Stream 2
  • LIFE Peat Restore
  • Protecting peatlands in the Ukraine
  • Sustainable fisheries management
  • Mountains - Vulnerable giants
  • Wetlands - Underestimated super ecosystems
  • Forests - The heart of biodiversity
  • Mangroves
  • Steppes and deserts - Extreme habitats
  • Oceans and coasts - Fascinating biodiversity
  • Living Rivers
  • Fishing without limits
  • Empty oceans
  • Climate and forest protection in Gorontalo
Read

Ecosystems


An ecosystem is a complex of living organisms, their physical environment and all their interrelationships in a specific environment. Intact ecosystems are essential for human life. They provide a variety of ecosystem services, such as climate regulation, carbon storage or drinking water and food. However, due to anthropogenic impacts there are only few intact ecosystems left. The greater part is damaged, degraded or destroyed.

NABU focuses on restoring ecosystems to their original state and the most important regulatory functions such as carbon sequestration. Restoration is ideally done by creating conditions in which the ecosystem can recover on its own. NABU carries out ecosystem restoration projects nationally, for example restoration of the Lower Havel and internationally, especially in tropical rainforests in Sumatra and Sulawesi, Indonesia.


our projects

Latvia Sudas Zviedru purvs - photo: Mara Pakalne

LIFE Peat Carbon

This project, which is running until 2027, aims to reduce CO₂ emissions in project sites by the equivalent of 37.117 tons of CO₂ per year in Latvia and 3.500 tons of CO₂ equivalent per year in Finland. NABU is supporting the project with its expertise in peatland restoration and communications. more →

Armenian folk group in traditional costumes - photo: Mountainpix/ shutterstock.com

Creative Mountains

Preserving the natural and cultural treasures of the Caucasus

The mountains of Armenia belong to the Caucasus biodiversity hotspot and are unique in both natural and cultural heritage. With the project "Creative Mountains", NABU and its partners seek to promote conservation and sustainable development in local communities. more →

An aerial shot of the peatlands in the Slowinski National Park, Poland - photo: Volker Gehrmann

LIFE Multi Peat

What Europe needs? Wet peatlands! NABU is part of the international project LIFE Multi Peat that aims to rewet and manage degraded peatlands covering an area of 689 ha. The project is being implemented in Poland, Belgium, the Netherlands, Ireland and Germany. more →

Hornbills in Indonesia. - photo: feathercollector/ stock.adobe.com

Hutan Harapan

Protecting and restoring forests for future needs

Hutan Harapan, the "forest of hope", is a tropical lowland forest in Sumatra, Indonesia, and one of our most precious conservation and restoration programmes. The forest is one of the last refuges for endangered species and provides countless ecosystem services. more →

Fog over the variegated landscape of "Zacharovanyj Kraj" National Park - Foto: USPB

Protecting the 'Enchanted Valley' bog

Restoration of the 'Chorne Bagno' bog in Transcarpathia

In the Ukraine, NABU can rely on active animal support to protect important peatlands – in the 'Enchanted Land' National Park, beavers and their dams assist with the rewetting of precious peatlands, thereby fostering climate and species protection. more →

Sunset over Madiesenu Mire in Augstroze, Latvia - photo: Mara Pakalne

LIFE Peat Restore

Restoring peatlands, sequestering carbon

NABU is part of the LIFE Peat Restore project that aims to rewet degraded peatlands covering an area of 5,300 hectares in Germany, Poland, Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia to restore their function as carbon sinks. more →

Mangroves and their ecosystem services are indispensable for Indonesia/'s coastal communities. - photo: Burung Indonesia/ Dian Kusdini

Mangrove conservation in Indonesia

Southeast Asia’s natural coast guards need our help

Mangroves and their ecosystem services are indispensable for Indonesia's coastal communities. However, the country experiences alarming rates of mangrove loss. In Sulawesi, we support mangrove conservation and identify areas suitable for restoration. more →

Endangered beauty: the Banggai cardinalfish is endemic to the Banggai Archipelago and threatened by overfishing and habitat loss. - photo: mirecca/ adobe.stock.com

Sustainable fisheries management

Livelihoods and marine biodiversity in the Coral Triangle

The marine biodiversity of the Coral Triangle is threatened by overfishing and habitat degradation. We support coastal communities of the Banggai Islands to secure their livelihoods through sustainable fishing practices in line with the Marine Protected Area. more →

Yayu Coffee Biosphere Reserve is home to Afromontane cloud forests with wild Arabica coffee - photo: NABU / Jonathan Böcker

Empowering Communities

Coffee as model for ecosystem-friendly regional development

By capacitating coffee farmers for better yields and climate resilience, supporting local communities with forest-oriented income and sustaining the biosphere reserve and its ecosystems, we aim to maintain the unique forests of Yayu Biosphe Reserve. more →

Mangroves in Madagascar - Photo: Adobe Stock / Punchthanun

Green coasts for Madagascar

Nature conservation and sustainable resource use

The protected area Mahavavy-Kinkony in Madagascar suffers from degradation of its coastal ecosystems. NABU and ASITY Madagascar joined forces supporting communities for restoring ecosystems, improving livelihoods and responding to the impacts of climate change. more →

Wild coffee beans.

Coffee-novation

Ethiopia’s garden coffee value chain

Kafa Biosphere Reserve is challenged by the lack of sustainable employment and innovation for green development and adaptation to the impacts of climate change. The consortium aims at structuring the up to now non-commercialised garden coffee value chain. more →

Hippos! The Lake Tana Watershed has a diverse wildlife - photo: Bruno D/'Amicis

Water for Life

Ethiopia: Partnership for a joint sustainable future of Lake Tana

The largest lake in Ethiopia, Lake Tana, is a source of life for 4 million people in the region. Over the course of the last decade, however, the consequences of increased industrialization and development have been posing a threat to this vital water supply. more →

Untere Havel - Foto: Helge May

Restoration project at the river Havel

The lower Havel river valley is the largest and most important non-coastal wetlands area in Central Europe. The area suffered serious ecological degradation especially in the 20th century due to stream corridor construction projects. more →

Gorontalo - photo: Barend van Gemerden / Vogelbescherming NL

Climate and forest protection in Gorontalo

Conservation of a biodiversity hotspot

NABU and its Indonesian partner in the BirdLife network, Burung Indonesia, completed a project to protect tropical forests on the Indonesian island Sulawesi. The project was part of BirdLife’s “Forest of Hope Program” and located in the province of Gorontalo. more →

facts & Figures

Pipe delivery for the Nord Stream 2 pipeline in October 2016 in Mukran on the island of Rügen. Photo: Nord Stream 2 / Axel Schmidt
Pipeline passing marine protected areas?

The ecology of the Baltic Sea is in bad shape, as typical habitats are under threat or have already completely disappeared. According to the current plans, Nord Stream 2 will pass through five protected areas, despite there being no urgent need for an increased gas supply. more →

Blick vom Drachenfels auf die Stromspaltung des Rheins mit der Insel Nonnenwerth – Foto: Helge May
Living Rivers for Germany

The widening and regulation of rivers have, in the past, led to a series of impacts ranging from damages caused by floods, problems with water power, the loss of wetlands as well as the ongoing widening and regulation of tributaries flowing into main rivers. The public has become involved in a controversial debate on the general question of whether river regulaton is even necessary. more →

Fischkutter-Kontrolle  - Foto: Jan van de Vel/European Community
Empty oceans

Since its introduction in 1983, the Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) of the European Union (EU) has neither been successful in regulating fishing nor ending constant overfishing. more →

Current event: Live stream

Cottongrass - photo: Tomasz Wilk

Benefits of peatland restoration for Europe

Dive deeper into peatland issues now! In the conference live stream, experts and representatives of LIFE projects give insights into their work.

read more

OUR WORK

NABU's International Work for Ecosystems and Biodiversity - photo: NABU
NABU's International Work for Ecosystems and Biodiversity PDF (10.5 MB)

ECOSYSTEMS IN DEPTH

Peatlands in Latvia - fragile wetlands such as these provide essential ecosystem services. - photo: Mara Pakalne

Wetlands - Undervalued ecosystem

More than any other ecosystem, wetlands are experiencing rapid losses. With partners worldwide, NABU works to safeguard and restore these areas.

more
Fighting deforestation is a key component of preserving biodiversity. - photo: Davide Bonaldo/stock.adobe.com

Forests - Biodiversity frontline

Forests are on the frontline of the biodiversity crisis. NABU and its partners work to save, restore and sustainably manage forests worldwide.

more
Caucasus Mountains - photo: Sergei Trepet

Mountains - Vulnerable giants

Climate change and land use threaten fragile mountain ecoystems. NABU reports on the critical work to protect these essential regions.

more
The Ustyurt Plateau in Kazakhstan - photo: Tatiana/ stock.adobe.com

Steppes and deserts - Extreme habitats

NABU works to conserve the precious steppe and desert ecosystems of Central Asia, using community-based approaches to protect their biodiversity.

more
A grey seal rests on a beach - photo: Marc Scharping

Oceans and coasts - Rich biodiversity

Marine ecosystems are under severe anthropogenic pressure. With projects around the world, NABU works to preserve our planet's oceans and coasts.

more

Contact

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10117 Berlin
Germany

phone +49 (0)30.28 49 84-0 |
fax +49 (0)30.28 49 84-20 00
NABU@NABU.de

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