What it is about
Germany has a rich natural inheritance. It encompasses the great diversity of central European landscapes – from the North and Baltic Seas to the Alps – with all indigenous species and communities.
It is up to us to preserve this natural inheritance for everyone, to develop it, and to pass it on to the next generation.
Protected natural areas belonging to environmental groups, foundations and the government are part of this inheritance. In these areas nature has precedence, for the good of all.
Who we are
The signatories to this charter represent the National Natural Inheritance Network. We are an alliance of activists in natural protection, who together own around 170,000 ha hectares of the German natural inheritance.
We members of the National Natural Inheritance Network stand for:
In our function as landowners we protect important natural areas from destruction and from damage. By acting for the good of the woods, open country living spaces, and waters in our possession, we preserve a part of our home. We secure landscapes which people care about and whose maintenance for future generations is important.
The areas cared for by the National Natural Inheritance Network have a special significance as building blocks for a national “habitat connectivity system”. They nurture a variety of rare and endangered animal and plant species. Often they are large wilderness areas, open for the dynamics of natural processes and free of human influence.
Among the areas eligible for the National Natural Inheritance Network are all of the spaces of our members which are primarily dedicated to natural protection. A central element of our undertaking is represented by the National Natural Inheritance protected areas which have been permanently transferred from ownership by the Federal Republic of Germany into, mostly, the independent operational administration of the federal states, the German Federal Environmental Foundation and nature protection organizations. These include, among others, military areas no longer in use, opencast coal mines which have developed into fascinating natural oases, and the former German/German border, which has become a green ribbon which now connects instead of separating.
What we want
As members of the National Natural Inheritance Network we actively assume responsibility for our common natural inheritance in Germany. In doing so, we make an important contribution to the preservation of global biodiversity. We consider ourselves stewards of nature. We do not act out of self-interest, but rather in the interest of all of humanity, in that we preserve the natural areas entrusted to us, improve their condition and protect them permanently from harm. The securing of property rights is a good means toward achieving our goals, in spite of the fact that nature protection is also fundamentally sensible and necessary in spaces which are not secured primarily for purposes of nature protection.
In Europe and especially in Germany there remains little in nature uninfluenced by human use. We therefore advocate the prioritization of natural processes on selected, connected wilderness areas which are as large as possible. Germany, however, also boasts diverse cultivated landscapes such as meadows, pastures and heaths. It is just as important that these valuable elements worthy of conservation in our landscapes be preserved over the long term, through appropriate and environmentally compatible uses.
Only in this way can the entire spectrum of landscape diversity, both natural and created for human use, be preserved.
When humans become enthusiastic about nature, recognize its value and their own responsibility for it, they also support the protection of nature. Environmental education in our spaces is thus an important element of our work. It renders the landscapes and biological diversity of Germany capable of first-hand experience and enables personal nature consciousness. We wish to use this environmental education to make people advocates for nature, and increase their understanding of its many facets.
We are convinced that together, through the exchange of knowledge and experience and through cooperation, we can raise the quality and sustainability of area protection in Germany, and improve our way of relating to our natural inheritance. In this way the National Natural Inheritance Network contributes to the central goals of the National Strategy for Biodiversity.
How we work
The National Natural Inheritance Network complements existing networks of nature protection activists and works together with them. It wishes to support and intensify their work. Toward that end we compile current information on nature protection areas for which our members are responsible. We see to it that our members are recognized as part of a greater movement in and outside of Germany. Through our common efforts we raise the visibility and effectiveness of each individual member’s activities.
We members of the National Natural Inheritance Network discuss and cooperate on issues related to the subject group of nature protection, use of space and property ownership. In that spirit we organize regular workshops and conventions, and offer other possibilities for sharing information.
We develop, moderate and communicate common positions of our members. We engage in winning more attention in society and the political sphere for the ramifications of proprietary nature protection.
