Biodiversity, Ecology and Nature Conservation (NATURE)
In its research the division Biodiversity, Ecology and Nature Conservation (NATURE) integrates diverse perspectives and disciplines to understand the drivers and consequences of environmental change and land use decisions on ecosystems and human wellbeing.
In the NATURE division, we combine scientific rigour with participatory stakeholder engagement and attention to ethical, gender, intersectional and decolonial dimensions of research.
Our research areas include biodiversity, ecosystem services and nature’s contributions to people, climate change, human-nature-interactions and socio-ecological transformation. This entails agriculture, forest, water, wildlife and pest management, ecology, dynamics and control of vector-born diseases, as well as the use of natural resources for food, feed, bioenergy and other purposes. We explore the potential of different land use policies, certification, conservation planning, nature-based solutions and bioeconomic transformation as responses to environmental challenges.
We seek to assess synergies and conflicts between different land use priorities, including biodiversity conservation and food security, and explore how to improve coordination across political sectors and different visions of a good life, as well as how science-policy interfaces can shape land use policies.
Prof. Dr. Christian Borgemeister
cb@uni-bonn.de
+49-228-73-1866
Chair and Director
Prof. Dr. Lisa Biber-Freudenberger
lfreuden@uni-bonn.de
+49-228-73-1726
Chair and Director
Current Fields of Research
Biodiversity and Sustainable Land Use
The NATURE division conducts research on biodiversity conservation, agriculture and the impacts of land use change on biodiversity and human wellbeing, using spatial data and field research. A particular focus is on how agricultural expansion, infrastructure development and other land use dynamics drive biodiversity loss and how context-specific solutions can reconcile conservation with sustainable livelihoods and help identify pathways towards more sustainable land use.
Landscape Governance and Sustainability Transformation
We study how landscape governance and science-policy interfaces can enable sustainability transformations. Research entails co-designing landscape-level strategies with stakeholders and translating scientific findings into evidence that informs policy, practice and civil society. The division also supports science-policy processes and capacity development to strengthen the engagement of researchers, practitioners and decision-makers in sustainability governance.
Ecosystem and Human Health
Research on ecosystem and human health addresses the interconnections between human, animal and environmental health. This includes vector-born diseases within an integrated ‘One Health’ context. Water resources management is another focus, examining how water scarcity, flooding and weather extremes affect local livelihoods.
NATURE Staff
- Prof. Dr. Lisa Biber-Freudenberger (lfreuden@uni-bonn.de)
- Prof. Dr. Christian Borgemeister (cb@uni-bonn.de)
- Prof. em. Paul Vlek (p.vlek@uni-bonn.de)
- Dr. Fazlullah Akhtar (f.akhtar@uni-bonn.de)
- Dr. Peter Asare-Nuamah (pasarenu@uni-bonn.de)
- Dr. Bibiana Betancur Corredor (bbetancu@uni-bonn.de, bibetaco@gmail.com)
- Priv.-Doz. Dr. Tina Beuchelt (beuchelt@uni-bonn.de)
- Dr. Tatenda Chiuya (tatendachiuya@gmail.com)
- Dr. Chrispo Dingha (cdingha1@uni-bonn.de)
- Dr. Hannah Jaenicke (hjaenick@uni-bonn.de)
- Dr. Hannah Nyakio Kamau (hkamau@uni-bonn.de)
- Dr. Juliet Wanjiku Kamau (juliet.kamau@uni-bonn.de)
- Dr. Vincent Moseti (vmosetin@uni-bonn.de)
- Dr. Maureen Nabatanzi (mnabatan@uni-bonn.de)
- Barbara Orozco Meraz (barboroz@uni-bonn.de)
- Dr. Isimemen Osemwegie (iosemweg@uni-bonn.de)
- Prof. Dr. Anindita Sarkar (anindita@uni-bonn.de; aninditasarkar28@gmail.com)
- Dr. Jan Henning Sommer (hsommer@uni-bonn.de)
- Dr. Silke Tönsjost (silke.toensjost@uni-bonn.de)
- Sarah Verleysdonk (verleysdonk@uni-bonn.de)
- Abena Fosuaa Acheampong (af.acheampong@uni-bonn.de)
- Marian Salim Adan (adanmarian@gmail.com)
- Abdul Fikri Angga Reksa (fikri.anggareksa@uni-bonn.de)
- Irene Awino Ojuok (s7irojuo@uni-bonn.de)
- Dessalegn Worku Ayalew (s98dayal@uni-bonn.de)
- Laura Victoria Calderon Acero (lvcalderona@uni-bonn.de)
- Daniela Silvana Cueva Arias (danielacuevaarias@uni-bonn.de)
- Gordon Niboyenyel Dakuu (dakuu25@gmail.com)
- Jeremy Dickens (jerdickens@gmail.com)
- Klara Dzhakypbekova (klara.dzhakypbekova@uni-bonn.de)
- Vanessa Haines-Matos (nessyvessy.matos@gmail.com)
- Anna Handte-Reinecker (anna.handte-reinecker@uni-bonn.de)
- William Ricardo Isidorio (williamisidorio@live.com)
- Mohamed Tarek Kamar (mkamar@uni-bonn.de)
- Tuuliki Kandjinga (s15tkand@uni-bonn.de)
- Vivek Kumar (s7vikuma@uni-bonn.de)
- Nicolas Lara Rodriguez (s67nlara@uni-bonn.de)
- Ariane Manlangit (ariane.manlangit@uni-bonn.de)
- Veronica Manzanero (vermanzanero@gmail.com)
- Hadush Meresa (kidane.hadush@gmail.com)
- Nicholas Moret (nicholas.moret@uni-bonn.de)
- Joshua Musyoki Muloi (joshua.muloi@uni-bonn.de)
- Simon Wachira Muthee (s35smuth@uni-bonn.de)
- Mahmoud Nady Abdelsabour Mohamed (mabdelsa@uni-bonn.de)
- Ha My Nguyen (s63hnguy@uni-bonn.de)
- Tasneem Osman (s7taosma@uni-bonn.de)
- Cécile Poitevin (s93cpoit@uni-bonn.de)
- Gabriel Ponzoni Frey (g.frey@uni-bonn.de)
- Panrawee Praditsorn (panrawee.pra@uni-bonn.de)
- Fernanda Silva Martinelli (fe.smartinelli@gmail.com)
- Millicent Zoglie (mzoglie@uni-bonn.de)
NATURE Projects
AFAS – African Climate and Environment Center - Future African Savannas
CABES – Capacity Development for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services Experts in Africa
Cooperation between ZEF and the University of Tokyo
Developing the AquaInsight Tool: An Integrated Approach for Water Resources Management in Data Scarce Afghanistan
Earth Commission – Safe and Just Boundaries (Workstream Support by ZEF)
Equitably scaling up Nature-based Solutions in African Cities
FoodDiverse A03 - Impacts of agricultural diversification on biodiversity and human-nature relationships
Future Infections: Linking social-ecological transformation and arthropod-borne infections – part of the SFB 228 Future Rural Africa
INTERFACES – Supporting Pathways to Sustainable Land Management in Africa
SCALAM – SCaling up Agroecological LAndscapes in the Mediterranean
Understanding Just Transitions in Groundwater: Adaptation Futures under Climate Extremes
Selected publications
- Kamar, M. T., Haines-Matos, V., Mascarenhas, A., Kozban, I., Pineda, J. E. M., Koné, N. A., Talhouk, S. N., Chaudhary, S., & Biber-Freudenberger, L. (2026). From participation to well-being: Understanding social processes and outcomes in nature-based solutions. Nature-Based Solutions, 10, 100356. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nbsj.2026.100356
- Nyanghura, Q., Jacob, P., Schmitz, C., Whitney, C., & Biber-Freudenberger, L. (2026). Ecological and economic impacts of increasing landscape connectivity in ecological corridors of Tanzania. In Review. https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-9909128/v1
- Ali, F. S. M., Sommer, J. H., Borgemeister, C., Biber-Freudenberger, L. (2025). Participatory and non-participatory forest ecosystem services valuation in Sub-Saharan Africa: a systematic literature review. Discover Sustainability, 6: 199. (Open Access)
- Biber-Freudenberger, L., Bogner, C., Bareth, G., Bollig, M., Dannenberg, P., Revilla Diez, J., Greiner, C., Mtweve, P. J., Klagge, B., Kramm, T., Müller-Mahn, D., Moseti, V., Nyamari, N., Ochuodho, D. O., Kuntashula, E. Theodory, T., Thorn, J.P.R., Börner. (2025). Impacts of road development in sub-Saharan Africa: A call for holistic perspectives in research and policy. iScience, 2(28): 111913. (Open Access)
- Falk, S., Wynsberghe A. v., Biber-Freudenberger, L. (2024). The attribution problem of a seemingly intangible industry. Environmental Challenges, 16: 101003. (Open Access)
- Shumo, M., Osuga, I.M., Khamis, F.M., Tanga, C.M., Fiaboe, K.M.K., Subramanian, S., Ekesi, S., van Huis, A. & C. Borgemeister. (2019). The nutritive value of black soldier fly larvae reared on common organic waste streams in Kenya. Scientific Reports 9:10110 doi.org/10.1038/s41598-019-46603-z
- Betancur-Corredor, B., Loaiza-Usuga, J.C., Denich, M. & C. Borgemeister. (2018). Gold mining as a potential driver of development in Colombia: Challenges and opportunities. Journal of Cleaner Production 199: 538-553.
- Tonnang, H.E.Z., Hervé, B.D.B., Freudenberger, L.B., Salifu, D., Subramanian, S., Ngowi, V.B., Anani, B., Moukam Kakmeni, F.M., Affognon, H., Saliou Niassy, S., Landmann, T.O., Ndjomatchoua, F.T., Pedro, S.A., Johansson, T., Tanga, C.M., Nana, P., Fiaboe, K.M., Mohamed, S.F., Maniania, N.K., Nedorezov, L.V., Ekesi, S. and C. Borgemeister. (2017). Advances in crop insect modelling methods – towards a whole system approach (a review). Ecological Modelling 354: 88-103.
- Affognon, H., Mutungi, C., Sanginga, P., and C. Borgemeister. (2015). Unpacking Postharvest Losses in Sub-Saharan Africa: A Meta-Analysis. World Development 66: 49-68.
- Jaramillo, J., Muchugu, E., Vega, F., Davis, A., Borgemeister, C. & A. Chabi-Olaye. (2011). Some like it hot: the influence and implications of climate change on coffee berry borer (Hypothenemus hampei) and coffee production in East Africa. PLoS ONE 6(9): e24528. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0024528.