Wilderness Development in Germany (Wilderness Fund)

The Wilderness Fund addresses a wide range of actors who wish to make an active contribution to the development and safeguarding of wilderness areas in Germany. The program aims to allow nature to develop according to its own laws on at least 2% of Germany's land area.

The Wilderness Fund supports targeted measures for the safeguarding and development of wilderness areas. This primarily includes the acquisition of land and usufruct rights, as well as financial compensation for the permanent renunciation of economic uses. Funding focuses on project-related expenditures that directly contribute to achieving these goals.

The Wilderness Fund offers financial support in the form of non-repayable grants for project funding. Funding can amount to up to 100% of eligible expenditures to enable the safeguarding of wilderness areas in Germany. The program is valid until the end of 2030.

To receive funding from the Wilderness Fund, various conditions and requirements must be met, ranging from compliance with legal bases to specific conditions for land acquisition and use. In particular, nature conservation objectives must be permanently secured, and responsibility for subsequent obligations must be assumed.

The application procedure for the Wilderness Fund is clearly structured and requires both electronic and written submission. Detailed information on the project and its contribution to the goals of wilderness development must be submitted to ensure a successful evaluation.

The funding for wilderness development in Germany, known as the Wilderness Fund, is based on a specific guideline from the Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety. This guideline defines the purposes, objects, and conditions of funding and integrates overarching budgetary and state aid provisions to ensure transparent and targeted implementation.