BioDiversum at the MPI-NAT
A 65 percent decline in birds since 1965, 80 percent in insects since 1980 – this development in Germany is alarming and has to be stopped. With our biotope project at the Fassberg, the BioDiversum, our institute wants to actively contribute its share.
It is an ecological disaster that finally reached public awareness in recent years: The massive decline of birds and insects – both in species and individuals – threatens nature as we know it, and thus the basis of our life. The phenomenon is not limited to Germany but part of a worldwide, rapid loss of animal and plant species. Around one million species are on the brink of extinction, mainly due to increasingly intensive agriculture and loss of land due to development, settlement, and traffic, which affects plants and animals alike.
Numerous organizations and initiatives are now determined to fight this worrying development. Our institute is also taking action: in 2019, we launched our biotope project BioDiversum – Biotope at the Fassberg Campus of the MPI for Multidisciplinary Sciences (former MPI for Biophysical Chemistry). We have created a diverse biotope – a habitat tailored to the needs of animals and plants – on the institute’s Fassberg Campus in Göttingen. The aim is to significantly improve the living conditions for native insects, birds, and many other species – including endangered ones.
The project comprises a whole range of measures: the installation of over a hundred nesting boxes, the sowing of wildflower meadows, the reconstruction of fallow land and beds around the institute by planting insect-friendly perennials, and the creation of a meadow orchard. The heart of the BioDiversum is a newly designed pond of around 900 square meters, fed sustainably with surface water.
An overview of all measures can be found here.
