Together for insect conservation: launch of Germany-wide joint project BROMMI on 28 January 2021

In the UNESCO biosphere reserves Mittelelbe, Bayerische Rhön, Schaalsee, Schorfheide-Chorin and Schwarzwald, living conditions for insects will be improved over the next five years: WWF Germany, Nationale Naturlandschaften e.V., the Eberswalde University for Sustainable Development (HNEE) and the Leibniz Centre for Agricultural Landscape Research (Leibniz-Zentrum für Agrarlandschaftsforschung, ZALF e.V.) are testing and evaluating measures for better insect protection together with farmers and various partners of the biosphere reserves and their administrations. On 28 January 2021, the virtual kick-off event for the joint project "BROMMI - Biosphere reserves as model landscapes for insect conservation" will take place with a welcome address by Federal Environment Minister Svenja Schulze.

"There have been many studies on insect mortality that have identified the causes and proposed measures to promote insects, particularly in the agricultural sector. As part of the BROMMI project in the Federal Biological Diversity Programme, we are drawing on this wealth of knowledge and testing which measures are effective for specific regions and forms of agricultural use in large-scale pilot projects. This will be underpinned by accompanying scientific research," says Professor Andreas Linde, zoologist and scientific director of the HNEE sub-project.

Andreas Linde is part of the HNEE scientific team that is responsible for the accompanying research in the project and works closely with the five participating UNESCO biosphere reserves. They are the model landscapes within which various insect-promoting measures are to be tested and evaluated on cultivated land and in neighbouring structures. These include, for example, the creation of flower strips and woodland edges, grazing instead of mowing, optimised fertilisation and modified application technology. But what are the specific effects of these measures and how can they be better adapted to local conditions?

"With an accompanying monitoring programme for selected groups such as butterflies, grasshoppers, wild bees and ground beetles, we want to find out which measures support insect populations. This includes both the general diversity of insect species as well as beneficial insect species for agriculture," says Professor Vera Luthardt, the scientific advisor accompanying the monitoring activities, describing HNEE's research approach.

In addition, the uncertainties and risks that the measures may entail for agricultural businesses or soil associations are being determined. "The acceptance of the measures and their effectiveness are crucial for long-term establishment opportunities and are therefore also the subject of our accompanying research. This is why we are in dialogue with everyone who has points of contact with the selected measures right from the start," says Andreas Linde. The long-term goal of BROMMI is not only to analyse and determine the effects within participating biosphere reserves, but also to transfer these findings and results to other regions and to establish recommendations for action for insect-promoting measures in agricultural landscapes in general.

Background to the BROMMI joint project
Insects account for almost three quarters of all animal species in Germany. They provide a wide range of indispensable ecosystem services, from pollinating many crops to removing organic waste and providing food for the diverse fauna of our native ecosystems, thus ensuring their proper functioning.

Both the total number of insects and the diversity of insect species in Germany is declining. The use of pesticides and fertilisers, intensified agricultural cultivation of meadows and fields and light pollution are key factors in the decline of insects. Added to this is the loss of habitats or their massive alteration, for example when orchards, hedges or small bodies of water disappear.

The idea of biosphere reserves goes back to a UNESCO programme from 1970. In these model regions, the coexistence of man and nature is tested and implemented in an exemplary manner. Their mission is to protect cultural landscapes and important habitats for people and nature from destructive interventions. This includes achieving a balance between human utilisation and natural cycles in the biosphere reserves. Germany's 16 officially certified UNESCO biosphere reserves are currently home to a wide variety of historically evolved regional ecological diversity. In order to promote this high social demand for biosphere reserves and to support research and transfer, an internationally active Biosphere Reserves Institute (BRI) was founded at HNE Eberswalde and a Master's degree course in the management of biosphere reserves was opened in autumn 2020.

The project is funded by the Federal Agency for Nature Conservation with funds from the Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety as part of the Federal Biological Diversity Programme.

SAVE THE DATE
The virtual kick-off event for the joint project "BROMMI - Biosphere reserves as model landscapes for insect conservation" will take place on 28 January 2021, 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.

Further information
Project page of the overall network
Project page of the HNEE