The transformation of Germany’s energy supply towards renewable sources is well underway. This is accompanied by the development of new infrastructure: power transmission lines, wind energy and solar installations, biomass cultivation and power plants, battery storage facilities, and many other components are increasingly shaping nature and the landscape. At the same time, planning and approval procedures are characterised by the drive for acceleration, simplification, and digitalisation. This has led to a restructuring of nature conservation requirements in the planning and approval of renewable energy projects.
The planned large-scale expansion of renewable energy is increasing the demand for land, presenting new challenges for nature conservation and landscape management. At the same time, there is a growing need for strategically planned and managed green infrastructure. Additional land is required for natural climate protection, landscape conservation, the protection of species and habitats, and the preservation of biodiversity. Reconciling these competing demands for land requires both the consistent expansion of green infrastructure and integrated solutions for an energy transition that is compatible with nature and the landscape.
The contributions in the current special issue demonstrate how the expansion of renewable energy and nature conservation objectives can be better reconciled. They present approaches to nature-compatible solutions, address current developments—such as the new legal framework for wind energy projects and the national species-support programme—and also outline strategies with a long-term impact on nature conservation. These include, for example, concepts for the multiple use of land and technical avoidance measures.
Background
Nature and Landscape is the oldest specialist journal for nature conservation and landscape management in the German-speaking world. It is published by the German Federal Agency for Nature Conservation. Each issue contains peer-reviewed original articles by specialist authors on current topics in nature conservation and landscape management; the contributions have not been published previously. Since November 2021, the journal has been published using the Green Open Access model. The articles in special issue 3/4-2026 will be permanently and freely accessible in the BfN repository (https://bfn.bsz-bw.de/) ten months after their initial publication.
Nature and Landscape (09/10-2026), Focus: Nature conservation and onshore renewable energy:
https://www.bfn.de/publikationen/zeitschrift-natur-und-landschaft/nul-ausgabe-0910-2026-schwerpunkt-naturschutz-und
The German-language publication includes English abstracts.