Information - knowledge for practitioners and the public
INFORMATION AND EDUCATION
BfN considers itself as the central service provider for all issues relating to nature conservation. Comprehensive information and publicity work is therefore a key part of the Agency’s activities.
Information and publications
BfN provides information for practitioners in all areas of nature conservation and for the general public. Children and teenagers are an especially important target group. The Agency develops and refines teaching ideas and materials to introduce young people to nature and conservation, publishes a series of leaflets specially for children and provides a web portal for ‘nature detectives’ 
www.naturdetektive.de. This unique project uses new media to combine the practical and virtual experience of nature.
Important research findings and work outcomes are published in the BfN-Schriften monograph series. BfN also publishes a journal “Natur und Landschaft”, containing academic articles and news on nature conservation and landscape management. The same information is available online in summary form 
here. The website additionally provides information on current projects, programmes and events together with links to BfN’s various specialist databases.
Library
Library of Bfn. Photo: Daniel Wolf
BfN has one of the largest nature conservation libraries in Europe, with some 120,000 books and media plus over a 1,000 subscribed and archived specialist journals at the Agency’s three locations in Bonn, Leipzig and Vilm. The BfN documentation service catalogues this literature in a continuously updated database containing more than 100,000 references.
Press relations work
Sustainable sport as a publicity event: The Naturathlon staged regularly by BfN. Photo: Franz August Emde, BfN
To serve the general public, BfN publishes booklets, flyers and posters on general and specific nature conservation topics. These activities are supplemented by ongoing press relations work. Exhibitions, events and campaigns likewise serve to raise awareness of nature conservation issues. BfN also receives numerous telephone and written enquiries every day, all of which are answered individually.
International Nature Conservation Academy (INA)
Home to national and international nature conservation conferences: The Island of Vilm. Photo: Interflug, Berlin
BfN operates its own conference centre, the International Nature Conservation Academy (INA) on the Island of Vilm near Rügen in northern Germany. At the Academy, BfN holds scientific conferences and workshops on a wide range of nature conservation topics. The INA additionally conducts training for capacity-building purposes with regard to implementation of the Convention on Biological Diversity and other international commitments. It is also available for use by other institutions for seminars.
