Europe & North America

Germany

• © UNESCO
• Vulkaneifel Geopark, Germany

Germany’s ecosystems are varied, and there are currently 13 Biosphere Reserves and 6 National Geoparks in the country. The Vosges du Nord/Pfälzerwald Transboundary Biosphere Reserve is shared with France.

Germany is involved in a great number of earth sciences-related projects and is active in environmental matters, including the protection of freshwater resources ocean ecosystems.

Below you can access the projects that are currently being implemented in the country within the framework of UNESCO’s Natural Sciences Sector.

Freshwater

- Hydrology for the Environment, Life and Policy programme (HELP) project in the Saale basin More

- International Flood Initiative (IFI)

- International Sediment Initiative (ISI) case study, under preparation More

- World Water Assessment Programme (WWAP) Danube River Basin case study More

- Northern European Flow Regimes from International Experimental and Network Data (FRIEND) More

- Hindu Kush HimalayanFlow Regimes from the International Experimental and Network Data (HKH FRIEND)

 
People, Biodiversity and Ecology

- Global Change and Mountain Regions (GLOCHAMORE)

- Biosphere Reserves (WNBRs) 
 

Oceans

- UNESCO Chair in Marine Geology and Coastal Management, established in 1997 at the University of Kiel More

 
Earth Sciences

- National Geoparks

- Triassic Time and Trans-Panthalassan Correlations (IGCP, Project 467)

- Late Variscan terrestrial biotas and palaeoenvironments  (IGCP, Project 469)

- GIS metallogeny of Central Asia (IGCP, Project 473)

- Images of the Earth’s crust and upper mantle (IGCP, Project 474)

- Deltas in the Monsoon Asia-Pacific region (DeltaMAP, IGCP, Project 475) 

- Sustainable Use of Platinum Group Elements (IGCP, Project 479)

- Structural and Tectonic Correlation across the Central Asia Orogenic Collage: Implications for Continental Growth and Intracontinental Deformation (IGCP, Project 480) 

- Geodynamics of the East African Rift System / Geophysical Characteristics and Evolution of the South-western Branch of the East African Rift System (IGCP, Project 482/489) 

- The role of Holocene environmental catastrophes in human history (IGCP, Project 490)

- Middle Palaeozoic vertebrate biogeography, palaeogeography and climate (IGCP, Project 491)

- Quaternary Land-Ocean Interactions (IGCP, Project 495)

- The Rheic Ocean: Its origin, evolution, and correlatives (IGCP, Project 497)

- Devonian land-sea interaction: evolution of ecosystems and climate (IGCP, Project 499)

- Dryland Change: Past, Present, Future (IGCP, Project 500)

- Global Comparison of Volcanic-hosted Massive Sulphide Districts (IGCP, Project 502)

- Ordovician palaeogeography and palaeoclimate (IGCP, Project 503) 

- Marine and Non-marine Jurassic: Global correlation and major geological events (IGCP, Project 506)

- Palaeoproterozoic Supercontinents and Global Evolution (IGCP, Project 509)

- Submarine Mass Movements and their Consequences (IGCP, Project 511)

- Karst Aquifers and Water Resources (IGCP, Project 513)

- Black Sea-Mediterranean Corridor during the last 30,000 years: Sea level change and human adaptation (IGCP, Project 521)

- Low-temperature thermochronology: applications and inter-laboratory calibration (IGCP, Project 543)

- TERRA.vita Geopark More

 
Basic Sciences

- UNESCO Chair in Computer Science, established in 2000 at the University of Mannheim More

- UNESCO Chair in Macromolecular Characterization, established in 2004 at the University of Technology and German Institute for Polymers, Darmstadt More

Sciences Policy and Sustainable Development

- Establishing Science and Technology Parks More

 
Natural Disaster Reduction

- Reducing Earthquake Losses in the Eastern Mediterranean Region (RELEMR) programme 
 
Sustainable Development

- UNESCO Chair in Higher Education for Sustainable Development, established in 2005 at the University of Lueneburg More