52°31′23″N 13°22′43″E / 52.523136°N 13.378625°E / 52.523136; 13.378625

Naturschutzbund Deutschland

Abbreviation	NABU
Motto	Working for people and nature
Established	1899 (127 years ago)
Founded at	Stuttgart
Types	nonprofit organization
Legal status	Registered association
Headquarters	Berlin
Country	Germany
Membership	872,100 (2024)
Chief Executives	Leif Miller, Susanne Baumann, Ingo Ammermann
Chairpersons	Jörg-Andreas Krüger
Part of	BirdLife International
Revenue	44,531,101.53 euro (2017)
Total Assets	65,824,092.95 euro (2024)
Employees	332 (2024)
Volunteers	70,000 ±5000 (2023)
Website	www.nabu.de
[edit on Wikidata]

The Naturschutzbund Deutschland e.V. ("The Nature and Biodiversity Conservation Union") or NABU is a German non-governmental organisation (NGO) dedicated to conservation at home and abroad, including the protection of rivers, forests and individual species of animals. Jörg-Andreas Krüger is president of NABU; CEO are Susanne Baumann and Ingo Ammermann.^[1]

NABU is the national partner of BirdLife International for Germany.^[2]

NABU is one of the largest, oldest and most well-known, nature conservation groups in Germany and has worked for over 100 years for people and nature. NABU carries out specific conservation projects, maintains a research institute, runs environmental training and informs the media and public about important topics connected with the environment and nature conservation. The society is formally recognised by the German state as an environmental and conservation society, a body responsible for public issues (Träger öffentlicher Belange), and must therefore be consulted over issues affecting the ecology.

NABU has, together with its sister organisation in Bavaria, about 960,000 members (as of June 2022) as active conservationists or supporters. They are organised into about 2,000 local groups across Germany.

One focus since the organization was founded has been securing areas for nature conservation. NABU has an area of over 160,000 hectares with well over 5,000 nature conservation areas throughout Germany. The NABU “National Natural Heritage Foundation” (Stiftung Naturerbe) managed the areas.^[3]

The NABU was founded by Lina Hähnle on 1 February 1899 in Stuttgart as the Bund für Vogelschutz (BfV) (Union for bird conservation). In 1990 the BfV merged with former DDR Naturschutz society to Naturschutzbund Deutschland (NABU). Michael Succow, the father of the GDR nature conservation program, was elected as vice president of NABU. It is primarily thanks to him that 14 large landscapes in eastern Germany were placed under protection upon reunification.^[3] Since then, the focus got broader and NABU built up divisions for international conservation projects, marine conservation and energy sufficiency.

• Official website of the NABU (in German and English)