Knowledge and natural science

Wissen und Naturwissen

Discover news from the animal and plant world and find interesting information about nature and the environment.
KNOWLEDGE ; GERMANY
 Foto: PIENSA!-Stiftung

Kennen Sie die Natur des Jahres 2024?

The blue-black carpenter bee is the wild bee of the year 2023. You can learn more about this dazzling beauty in a detailed portrait on the NABU website.

Our photo was taken during an excursion by pupils from the Schelmengraben primary school to the castle park of Freudenberg Castle in Wiesbaden. On one of the first warmer days of spring, our wild bee of the year was presented to the delight of the children.

As every year, you can get an overview of the entire nature of 2024 on the NABU website. There are many other exciting portraits there, for example of the spotted cave spider, which is the spider of the year and also the cave animal of the year 2024.
KNOWLEDGE ; GERMANY
 Foto: Sven Osinski

The Aesculapian snake in Hesse: Germany's largest snake is also at home here

Did you know that the Aesculapian snake is not only the largest, but also the rarest snake native to Germany? For this reason, it is considered a reptile that is particularly worthy of protection. On the so-called Red List, the snake is classified as "highly endangered".

The current distribution area of this snake, which is completely harmless to humans, is actually in the northern Mediterranean region. However, during the last warm period on Earth, this species also occurred in many regions north of the Alps. One of the northernmost and largest populations can still be found in the forested and climatically favorable foothills of the Taunus Mountains. It also finds conditions in the forest meadow valleys of Wiesbaden in which it can find food and reproduce.

Our cooperation partner Naturefund has been committed to the preservation of this rare reptile for many years. The Naturefund project can be found here hereHessen-Forst has produced a detailed documentation on the Aesculapian snake.
KNOWLEDGE ; GERMANY
 Foto: PIENSA!-Stiftung

The brimstone butterfly: A harbinger of spring with built-in frost protection

Did you know that the brimstone butterfly can survive temperatures as low as minus 20 degrees Celsius? And that, unlike other native butterflies, it spends the winter almost unprotected? But how does it do that? What is its trick? Firstly, it secretes some of its body fluids at the start of the cold days. It drains practically all the water it doesn't need. Secondly, it has its own antifreeze, glycerine. This enables it to spend the winter on the underside of a leaf or in a thicket of ivy or a tuft of grass.

But when spring comes, just a few warm rays of sunshine are enough to bring him back to life. Then he enjoys the sun - just likee us humans. Unlike other butterflies, however, it does not spread its wings, but folds them together. As in our picture, it exposes itself to the sunlight from the side and enjoys the warmth.
KNOWLEDGE ; GERMANY
 Foto: Jiri Bodahl auf www.gartenschlaefer.de

Do you know the nature of the year 2023?

Der Gartenschläfer ist das Wildtier des Jahres 2023. Mehr über diesen kleinen Verwandten des Siebenschläfers und warum er so stark gefährdet ist erfahren Sie in einem ausführlichen Portrait auf der Website der Deutschen Wildtierstiftung.

Doch wussten Sie, dass Wiesbaden die Hauptstadt der gefährdeten Gartenschläfer ist?  Seit Jahrzehnten gehen die Bestände in ganz Europa dramatisch zurück. Doch vor allem in unserer Region gibt es noch regelmäßig Sichtungen. Hier knüpft das Forschungsprojekt „Spurensuche Gartenschläfer“ an, in dem verschiedene Organisationen nach den Gründen für das Verschwinden der Gartenschläfer suchen. Mehr Informationen zu diesem Projekt finden Sie hier.  

Einen Überblick über die gesamte Natur des Jahres 2023 erhält man am besten auf der Website des NABU. Es gibt dort viele weitere spannende Portraits, zum Beispiel zum Vogel des Jahres, der in jedem Jahr von Naturinteressierten selbst gewählt werden darf. 
KNOWLEDGE ; INTERNATIONAL
 Foto: PIENSA!-Stiftung

"The country needs wet moors": Moors are the hope for climate protection

"Nasse Moore braucht das Land": Mit diesem Slogan hat der NABU 2021 auf die besondere Bedeutung der Moore für den Schutz unseres Klimas hingewiesen. Doch wussten Sie, dass global betrachtet alle Moore doppelt so viel Kohlenstoffdioxid speichern wie alle Wälder dieser Erde? Darauf weist die Heinz Sielmann Stiftung in ihrem neuesten Newsletter hin.

Alle großen Naturschutzorganisationen sind sich einig. Und sie tun etwas für den Schutz bestehender und die Renaturierung ehemaliger Moorflächen. Doch nicht nur die Großen leisten hier ihren Beitrag. Auch unsere Kooperationspartner Naturefund und FAPAS sind im Moorschutz aktiv. So hat FAPAS bereits 2004 eine ehemaliges Hochmoor auf der sog. 'Sierra Plana' bei Llanes in Asturien renaturiert. 2019 hatten wir die Gelegenheit, uns dort anzuschauen, was in nur 15 Jahren geschehen kann. Mehr Bilder finden Sie hier. 
KNOWLEDGE ; GERMANY
 Foto: PIENSA!-Stiftung

The Westerwald Lake District is one of 360 protected areas of the NABU National Nature Heritage Foundation

Wussten Sie, dass die NABU-Stiftung Nationales Naturerbe in 20 Jahren mehr als 21.500 Hektar Lebensraum durch Landkauf retten konnte? Darunter Urwälder von morgen, lebendige Seen, weite Tagebaulandschaften und Wiesen mit einzigartiger Blütenpracht. Die Westerwälder Seenplatte, ein europaweit bedeutsames Vogelparadies, gehört auch dazu.

Um diese ehemals zur Fischzucht angelegte Seenlandschaft auf Dauer zu bewahren, erwarb die NABU-Stiftung im Herbst 2019 die sieben bekannten Weiher, darunter auch den Dreifelder Weiher. Als Eigentümerin kann sie ihre schützende Hand über die Gewässer halten. Kennenlernen kann man die Region im Herbst 2022 bei einer geführten Exkursion. Informationen zur Anmeldung finden Sie hier.
KNOWLEDGE ; INTERNATIONAL
Logo: Convention of Biological Diversity

PIENSA!: “Biodiversity is a topic for the classroom!”

Jedes Jahr wird am 22. Mai mit dem Internationalen Tag der Biologischen Vielfalt auf den fortschreitenden Verlust an Arten, Ökosystemen und der genetischen Vielfalt erinnert. Bereits 1992 hat die internationale Staatengemeinschaft erkannt, welche Gefahren vom diesem Verlust ausgehen und in Rio de Janeiro beschlossen, etwas gegen diese auf für uns Menschen bedrohliche Entwicklung zu tun.
 
Doch wo stehen wir mehr als drei Jahrzehnte nach der Konferenz von Rio? Was wurde in der UN-Dekade 2010-2020 für den Erhalt der biologischen Vielfalt erreicht? Und wie sollte es aus unserer Sicht weitergehen? In unserem Beitrag zum Internationalen Tag der Biologischen Vielfalt haben wir uns hierzu positioniert.
KNOWLEDGE ; GERMANY
 Foto: PIENSA!-Stiftung

Do you know the nature of 2022?

You can find it between open meadows and mixed deciduous forests. At 55 to 65 millimetres, it is one of the larger butterflies and belongs to the family of Nymphalidae.It is also known as the "silver stripe" and owes this name to the two short and one long silvery stripes on the undersides of the moss-green hind wings. And it especially loves sunny forest edges and clearings with plenty of flowers.

The Emperor Moth has become the Butterfly of the Year 2022. It is the largest of our native fritillary and last autumn we saw it on the edge of our Wiesbaden orchards. You can find out more about it on the website
of the NABU. And of course you will also find out who the Bird of the Year or Spider of the Year 2022 is.
WISSEN ; PIENSA!
Photo: www.bundesregierung.de

The 17 goals for a more sustainable world - what role do the sustainability goals play for the PIENSA! Foundation?

Do you know the 17 goalsfor a more sustainable world? The PIENSA! Foundation is also concerned with the sustainability goals, the so-called SDGs (Sustainable Development Goals).

In May 2021, the global 'Decade of Action' was launched at a conference in Berlin. Now it's about putting the goals into action. We also want to contribute to achieving these goals with our work. We have explained what this looks like in detail and which goals are particularly in focus in an article on Agenda 2030.
KNOWLEDGE ; INTERNATIONAL
Photo: Jo Oerter

Die Rückkehr der großen Fünf und die Bedeutung des Rewilding im Naturschutz

"The Return of the Big Five" is the title of a highly acclaimed conference that will take place on October 2, 2020, at the German-Polish Environmental Education and Meeting Center at Criewen Castle.

In addition to representatives of the major German nature conservation organizations (BUND, NABU and WWF), international guests will also be present. Maciej Tracz from the European Bison Station Märkisch Friedland in Mirosłąwiec, Poland, will report on the "border crossers" in West Pomerania, who have long since found a home west of the Oder. And Kaja Heising from the Wisent World Wittgenstein in Bad Berleburg will report on the experiences made in Hesse with the reintroduction of the bison.
KNOWLEDGE ; REGIONAL
Foto: Jiri Bodahl auf www.gartenschlaefer.de

Wiesbaden is Europe's capital of garden dormice

Did you know that Wiesbaden is the capital of the endangered garden dormouse? What's more, it is no longer found in almost all of Europe. The Frankfurter Rundschau reported on this in January 2020.The garden dormouse is a small relative of the edible dormouse, and its "Zorro mask" makes it unmistakable. However, populations have been declining dramatically for decades. In many regions, the garden dormouse is already extinct. Why, however, is still completely unclear.

With the research project “Searching for Garden Dormice”, the German Federation for the Environment and Nature Conservation (BUND), together with the Justus Liebig University of Giessen and the Senckenberg Institute for Natural Research, want to investigate the reasons for the disappearance of the garden dormouse.
KNOWLEDGE ; GERMANY
Photo: Michael Larosa on Unsplash.com

Wilderness in Germany

In August 2020, the Federal Environment Ministry (BMU) and the Federal Agency for Nature Conservation (BfN) published the Nature Awareness Study 2019. It is the sixth study of its kind and you can find it here. Information paper.

In addition to the positive result that awareness of nature is growing in Germany, a large majority of Germans believe thatProtected areas are important in order to preserve nature for future generations. The goal formulated in 2007 to increase the proportion of wilderness to 2% by 2020 by designating protected areas with "wild core zones" was, however, seriously missed with only 0.6%. "From extremely little, we have achieved almost nothing." Manuel Schweiger from the Frankfurt Zoological Society points this out in a very interesting film on 3sat.
WISSEN ; DEUTSCHLAND 
 Bildquelle: www.bund.net

The “Green Belt” is Germany’s most important biotope network: 30 years of change and reunification – and 30 years of nature conservation

The area along the former inner-German border strip was excluded from any use for decades. This allowed nature to develop undisturbed. The areas that were created due to the quiet use and isolation are characterized by a particularly rich variety of endangered species and habitats and act as a so-called "Green Belt" with a total length of around 1,400 kilometers as a nationally significant and longest biotope network.
KNOWLEDGE ; GERMANY
Foto: 1&1 Ionos Bilderpool

Marine environmental protection

Toxic substances and plastic waste pollute our oceans for a long time. Huge carpets of plastic waste have now formed and are growing every day. Plastic rots incredibly slowly. As the plastic breaks down into tiny components, it inevitably ends up in the food chain at some point and thus eventually ends up on our plates via the fish.

This is just one danger that threatens our oceans. Now NABU, together with German nature conservation and development aid associations, has launched the Marine Offensive 2020 and published a joint list of demands.
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