Current Press Releases

From 20 March to 9 April, members of the public can once again photograph and report bumblebees. The Bumblebee Challenge harnesses the power of the crowd to record the diversity and distribution of bumblebee species in Germany. From March to April, the focus is on spring-flowering plants.

With 26.9 million tonnes of CO₂ equivalents emitted, Germany’s land use sector remained a significant source of greenhouse gases in 2025. The 2026 projection, a model of expected future emissions, shows that this situation will not change by 2030. Agriculture, on the other hand, will meet its…

Invitation to the III REGULUS Status Conference in Munich on 17 and 18 March

How can forests withstand climate change while meeting growing societal demands? Learn about practical research for a sustainable forestry and timber industry and take a look inside a real-world forestry laboratory.

Society and science are debating whether the weathering of rock powder can sequester atmospheric carbon in the long term. However, a team of researchers led by the Thünen Institute of Climate-Smart Agriculture and ETH Zurich has now shown that there are still too many unknowns involved. A…

An analysis of current economic data by the Thünen Institute shows that rural areas are particularly affected by job losses in the manufacturing sector. These regions are at risk of losing their economic base.

The Information and Coordination Centre for Fisheries Transformation (IKTF) is a new institution for fisheries in the North Sea and Baltic Sea. On behalf of the German government, the IKTF supports fishermen and fisherwomen in the transition to a sustainable sector. It will celebrate its opening in…

The Thünen Centre of Competence on the Origin of Timber has published a new reference work for determining the origin of charcoal and barbecue briquettes. With detailed descriptions and microscopic photographs, the researchers support companies and authorities in verifying compliance with the EU…

During the dry years, Germany's forests largely lost their function as carbon sinks. Now it has become apparent that the forest soil compensated for almost all of the negative effects during this period, thus taking over the sink function of the trees. Scientific models must therefore be adapted for…

Scientists working in departmental research within the Federal Ministry of Agriculture have developed innovative projects in 27 research projects. These projects are designed to support the agricultural and food industries in achieving the sector's climate protection goals.

A recent study by the Thünen Institute of Climate-Smart Agriculture assessed data on soil carbon content and stocks in arable soils under organic and conventional farming in Germany. The surprising finding: the soil carbon in organically farmed fields hardly differs from that in conventionally…

A recent study by the Thünen Institute of Baltic Sea Fisheries provides the first evidence that Atlantic herring also exhibit a so-called spawning site fidelity. This means that most herring in the western Baltic Sea return to their birthplaces, such as the Greifswald Bay, to spawn. This finding is…

A functional monitoring network for Germany's moorland areas is now in place. The 155 measuring points in open land and forests were set up over the past five years by scientists from the Thünen Institute. Today, Thursday, they are submitting their report on the development phase to the Federal…

With more than 70 options for action, the IPBES presents its most comprehensive report to date on the links between biodiversity, water, food and health to advise political decision-makers. Expertise also comes from the Thünen Institute of Biodiversity.

The Thünen Institute now has its own landscape laboratory, starting out with nine experimental fields. At the Trenthorst site (Schleswig-Holstein), models for future land use are being developed, researched, and tested on an area of 600 hectares. The researchers aim to overcome traditional forms of…