The „Biodiversity Policy Lab“ (BPL) is a research unit of the Museum für Naturkunde Berlin. The BPL’s work focuses on analyzing biodiversity policy, advising decision-makers, and facilitating or initiating public debates. The BPL’s goal is to make the diversity of species, genes, and ecosystems a matter of public concern—a matter that societies must address to ensure its conservation and use in accordance with sustainability criteria.
The BPL builds on the strengths of a natural history research museum: the MfN is a center for collection-based research on evolution and biodiversity and, through its exhibitions, also serves as a forum for all those who engage with nature both intellectually and practically. The BPL combines these strengths with research in the social sciences and humanities on the co-evolution of nature and society.
Within this framework, the „Alliance of University and Non-University Biodiversity Research in Germany“—coordinated by the BPL—was launched as a coalition of the largest research networks in the academic biodiversity community, with the aim of issuing joint statements and developing solutions to key issues in current biodiversity research. As a point of contact for various stakeholders from politics, government, and civil society—particularly on the topics of access and benefit sharing (ABS) and digital sequence information (DSI)—the platform contributes to constructive debate and a more equitable distribution of biodiversity benefits.
Partners
VBIO – Association for Biology, Biosciences and Biomedicine in Germany eV (https://www.vbio.de)
DNFS –Consortium of German Natural History Research Collection(https://www.dnfs.de)
NFDI – German National Research Data Infrastructure (NFDI) (https://www.nfdi.de)