Fundamental Issues of Biodiversity

In addition to the climate crisis, the global decline in biodiversity is regarded as the most significant ecological challenge of our time. Consequently, research on biodiversity and its conservation is of great importance.

As a research funding organization, the German Research Foundation (DFG) is well-positioned to play a pivotal role in advancing urgently needed biodiversity research. The areas in which there is currently a particular need for research are of significant importance for funding policy. DFG advisory bodies (Senate Commissions and working groups) can identify and formulate these needs. Such DFG advisory bodies also exist for biodiversity research.

Prof. Schlacke is a member of the Permanent Senate Commission on Fundamental Issues of Biological Diversity (SKBV), which was established on January 1, 2018. The Senate Commission meets every six months and serves as an independent, interdisciplinary expert forum that continuously evaluates new scientific findings related to biodiversity research in terms of their social and political significance. The SKBV represents the interests of basic research in the political and legislative arena and provides advice to the DFG’s committees, policymakers and society. During these meetings, the committees coordinate expert opinions drafted by sub-working groups, develop guidelines for the DFG’s application procedures and the scientific community, organize topic-related roundtables, and review current political and legislative developments, on the national and international level.

Prof. Schlacke also serves as chair of the Working Group on Access and Benefit Sharing (AG ABS), which addresses , the issue of the fair and equitable sharing of the benefits arising from the utilization of genetic resources. In addition, Prof. Schlacke is a member of the working groups on Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdiction (AG BBNJ) and digitalization (AG Digitalization). Prof. Schlacke provides support, in particular, with regard to the clarification of legal issues arising, for example, from international legal regulations on the protection of biodiversity and the use of genetic resources and digital sequence information, including legal developments under the Convention on Biological Diversity and the Nagoya Protocol. She equally provides support on legal issues arising from the development of new research technologies, methods, and procedures, or that are relevant to research data management. Three research assistants of Prof. Schlacke serve as the scientific secretariat of the working groups.