Kommbio – Municipalities for Biodiversity in Germany
Kommbio
The association Kommbio – Kommunen für biologische Vielfalt (english: Municipalities for Biodiversity) is an alliance of currently 416 cities, communes and districts. Together they are committed to species-rich natural areas in settlements and the open countryside.
Fields of action include the near-natural management of municipal green spaces, species and biotope protection, urban planning, renaturation and forest management. Furthermore, it is about promoting sustainable land management, nature experience and nature awareness. Topics such as climate adaptation, health care, quality of life in urban areas and citizen participation are becoming increasingly important.
The association serves the municipalities for the exchange of information and supports them in their public relations work. Further training offers for administrative staff as well as joint campaigns and projects are also on the agenda. Kommbio regularly informs about current developments in municipal nature conservation via its newsletter. On the homepage you can find numerous practical examples – from flower meadows in the park, to species protection measures for insects, birds and amphibians, up to green classrooms.
The alliance was founded in Frankfurt am Main in 2012 and has grown steadily. The basis of the association’s activities is the declaration “Biodiversity in Municipalities“ (Biodiversität in Kommunen), in which all members commit to working for biodiversity. The General Assembly is the supreme body of the association. It elects the board of directors from among its members, which in turn appoints the management.
At the head office members will find competent contact persons. They advise municipalities on technical issues relating to near-natural green space management or current funding opportunities and arrange contacts with municipalities with relevant practical experience.

10 years of the alliance
(2012-2022)
The
prehistory
The
foundation
Years of development
The first own office
A full-time executive director
1,000,000€ for the municipalities
record membership growth
The alliance in online format
New
goals
2010/2011: The prehistory
The starting point of the alliance was the dialogue forum „Biodiversity in Municipalities“ in 2010, which was conducted by Environmental Action Germany (Deutsche Umwelthilfe) on behalf of the Federal Agency for Nature Conservation (Bundesamt für Naturschutz). Robert Spreter as project leader of Environmental Action Germany and Torsten Wilke as head of department at the Federal Agency for Nature Conservation were responsible for this initiative. Both agreed that the dialogue forum should try to establish permanent cooperation among municipalities.
At the dialogue forum, the declaration „Biodiversity in Municipalities“ was adopted and published. Herein, the municipalities pledged their commitment to biodiversity and the establishment of a municipal alliance. Within a year, the declaration was signed by 200 cities, communes and districts from all over Germany. Professor Beate Jessel, then President of the Federal Agency for Nature Conservation, was delighted: „The acceptance of the Declaration by so many municipalities is enormous and far exceeds the expectations with which we initiated the implementation of the National Biodiversity Strategy at a local level in February 2010, together with around 30 municipalities and Environmental Action Germany.“
Due to the great success of the declaration, Environmental Action Germany applied to the Federal Agency for Nature Conservation for a funding project to establish a municipal alliance for the conservation of biodiversity. In two participatory workshops, the foundations for the association were laid together with representatives of the municipalities and in consultation with the municipal umbrella organisations, and the statutes were drawn up. An independent association supported by municipalities should be founded. The objectives and tasks of the association were defined as the exchange of information, political lobbying, public relations work and the implementation of joint projects. The declaration was intended to form the basis for the future work of the association and was to be signed by every member. It was planned to organise a large congress at which municipalities could become founding members. The following people were involved in the groundbreaking workshops in 2010 and 2011: Robert Spreter, Tobias Herbst, Ulrich Stöcker (all Environmental Action Germany), Alice Kube (Federal Agency for Nature Conservation), Irene Köchling (Federal Ministry for the Environment – Bundesumweltministerium ), Arnt Becker (City of Bielefeld), Rüdiger Becker (City of Heidelberg), Dr. Antje Brink (City of Hanover), Rita Budde (City of Bonn), Wolfgang Budig (City of Augsburg), Harald Fritsche (City of Augsburg), Jochen Hildenbrand (City of Nürtingen), Klaus Hoppe (City of Frankfurt am Main), Jürgen Leicher (Municipality of Ratekau), Christa Mehl-Rouschal (City of Frankfurt am Main), Hubert Müller, (City of Apolda), Michael Packschies (City of Eckernförde), Ulrich Schmersow (City of Hanover) and Torsten Wilke (City of Leipzig).
2012: The foundation
The alliance was founded on 1 February 2012 at the Senckenberg Museum of Natural History in Frankfurt am Main. Of the more than 250 participants, 60 municipalities decided to become founding members. A ten-member board was elected. Dr. Eckart Würzner, Mayor of Heidelberg, became chairman. His deputy was Mayor Peter Gaffert from the city of Wernigerode.
At the first board meeting, it was decided to submit an application to the Federal Biological Diversity Programme to fund the association’s staff. Municipal nature conservation projects and a public relations campaign should be realised. However, the approval was not granted in a modified form until 2016. The board appointed Robert Spreter from Environmental Action Germany to manage the association.
2013 – 2015: Years of development
In the first three years, Environmental Action Germany took over the function of the office. Until 2014, funding was still provided within the framework of the project funded by the Federal Agency for Nature Conservation, later to a lesser but increasing extent through membership fees. The website wordpress-1003113-3535693.cloudwaysapps.com was set up, the newsletter was introduced, action manuals were published and the networking of municipalities was promoted. The annual association meetings were held in Hannover, Bielefeld and Neuss. Important topics here included the development of biodiversity strategies, ecosystem services, and adaptation to climate change. By the end of 2015, the association already had over 100 members.
2016 – 2017: The first own office
On 1 April 2016, the project “Urban Green – species-rich and diverse” (StadtGrün – Artenreich und Vielfältig) was approved for five years under the Federal Biological Diversity Programme. The aim of the project was to introduce a label to establish a near-natural standard in green space maintenance. This was accompanied by a campaign to promote greater acceptance of near-natural green spaces among citizens. With the five pilot municipalities of Frankfurt am Main, Hanover, Kirchhain, Neu-Anspach and Wernigerode and the Environmental Action Germany as a project partner, a label was developed and implemented in a total of 49 municipalities. After the end of the project period, the label should be maintained as a self-financed initiative and has been offered as a service of the association since 2021.
The new project allowed to hire staff and rent a room as a project office; Tobias Herbst took over the project management. At the 2016 annual meeting in Hanover, the TEEB city report „Ecosystem Services in the City“ was presented. The then Federal Minister for the Environment, Dr. Barbara Hendricks, gave the welcoming speech in front of 120 participants. In 2017, the alliance meeting went to Leipzig. The event was held on the topic of „Nature in the City“ in cooperation with the Federal Association for Professional Nature Conservation (Bundesverband Beruflicher Naturschutz), the Federal Agency for Nature Conservation, the German Conference of Garden Authority Managers (Gartenamtsleiterkonferenz) and the City of Leipzig.
Membership numbers grew slowly but steadily. At the end of 2017, the alliance had 126 members.
2018: A full-time executive director
In 2018, we could hire Robert Spreter as full-time executive director from our funds. Thus, the alliance could offer more advice and support for member municipalities.
The general meeting in March 2018 was combined with the awarding of the newly developed label “Urban Green – species-rich and diverse” to five pilot municipalities at a congress with 160 participants in Frankfurt am Main. Mayor Jörg Sibbel from Eckernförde was elected as the new chairman.
Membership has grown steeply this year. 36 new municipalities were counted – more than three times as many as in previous years. Thus, a total of 162 members were recorded at the end of 2018. This was probably favoured by the increasing activities of the alliance, combined with the publication of the Krefeld study on insect decline, which raised public awareness of the issue of biodiversity.
In October 2018, the Federal Agency for Nature Conservation approved the project „Species richness through sustainable use – municipal scope for action to promote biodiversity in agriculture“ as part of the Federal Environment Ministry’s association funding. The project enabled the alliance to expand its work thematically in the following two years and to offer its members workshops and a brochure on the topic of „agriculture“.
2019: 1,000,000€ for the municipalities
The enormous public interest in the topic of „insect decline“ led to the Federal Government also becoming more active in the area of biodiversity. The master plan for urban nature, which was adopted by the Federal Cabinet in 2019, lists numerous measures that correspond to the alliance’s objectives. In this course, a corresponding funding project was applied for at the Federal Ministry for the Environment. The aim was to promote biodiversity conservation measures, especially in municipalities and regions where there had been little activity so far. To this end, the funding body provided € 1,000,000 in prize money for a competition.
To carry out this competition and to accompany 40 municipalities in implementing their awarded project ideas the project „Nature City – municipalities create biodiversity“ (Naturstadt – Kommunen schaffen Vielfalt) was approved in October 2019 with a duration of almost five years. Four people were newly employed as part of the project.
There was a new record increase in membership in 2019. 46 cities, communes and districts, including the metropolis of Hamburg, joined the alliance this year.
At a congress in Bonn,15 municipalities were awarded the label “Urban Green – species-rich and diverse”. The then President of the Federal Agency for Nature Conservation, Professor Beate Jessel also took part. The annual meeting of the association was held as an independent event in Neustadt an der Weinstraße with 67 participants.
2020: record membership growth
In 2020, the competition “Nature City – municipalities create biodiversity” was carried out. 310 municipalities participated with 332 project ideas. A jury selected 40 project ideas and each successful municipality was awarded 25,000 € for the implementation of its project idea. The award ceremony took place online due to Corona. The laudatory speeches, a greeting from the Federal Minister for the Environment, Svenja Schulze, and a short explanatory film were recorded. The videos were added to the alliance’s new YouTube channel.
The awarding of the next 15 municipalities with the label “Urban Green – species-rich and diverse” and the annual meeting with over 140 participants were also held online.
During the year, 63 new members joined the alliance, including the federal capital Berlin. The total number increased to 271 cities, communes and districts. Mayor Gerold Rechle from the city of Laupheim became the new chairman.
2021: The alliance in online format
In 2021, another 15 municipalities were awarded the label “Urban Green – species-rich and diverse” at an event in Düsseldorf. Although this marked the end of the funded project, the label continues! The alliance set up a commercial business and has been offering the label independently since then. This means another mainstay for the association, both financially and in terms of content.
As part of the “Nature City – municipalities create biodiversity”, an online congress was held with over 500 participants. This congress showed the potential that online formats offer for an association operating nationwide: the online format made it possible to reach municipalities that would otherwise not have participated in such an event before the pandemic due to their location, size or low staff capacity. In 2021, the first online workshops for members were held. These were very well received and have been offered regularly since then.
At the end of 2021, the project “N.A.T.U.R.” was approved. As a result, more employees could be hired and ten people are been working in the alliance office since the beginning of 2022. The new project will enable the association to inform, advise and train municipalities nationwide on a much larger scale over the next six years.
The steep upward trend in the number of new members continued. By the end of the year, 50 new municipalities had joined and the alliance had a total of 321 members.
The year 2021 ended on a very sad note. The chairman of the alliance, Mayor Gerold Rechle, passed away on 28 December 2021 following a serious illness.
2022: New goals
At the beginning of 2022, Waltraud Blarr from Neustadt an der Weinstraße was elected as the new chairperson by the board. According to the agenda of the new federal government, support for municipalities at the interface of biodiversity and climate protection is to be strengthened further. In this context, it is important to the association that biodiversity is treated with equal importance to climate protection.
Ten years and a vision
After ten years of existence, the alliance has 327 members and an office with ten employees in spring 2022. There is a great demand for the alliance’s lectures which cannot always be met due to their high number. The association is constantly represented at professional events. The ongoing project “N.AT.U.R.” in particular offers good prospects for further improving the association’s services in the future.
The association was never understood as an end in itself. The organisation’s success has always been measured by the extent to which municipalities contribute to the conservation and promotion of biodiversity. This can be seen as the association’s recipe for success. The association’s work has always been in the service of the objectives that were formulated at the time of its foundation:
„Our vision is green municipalities, cities and districts as high-quality habitats for people, animals and plants.“
This was never about short-term success. The initiators‘ idea was to move away from projects with short durations, whose effects often fade quickly, and instead build up a stable organisation to continuously improve the work of Municipalities for Biodiversity over the years. In this sense, the association’s work is to be further optimised in the coming years.