The Senckenberg Society was once founded by citizens of the city of Frankfurt am Main. Today it maintains one of the largest natural history museums in Europe, as well as other publicly funded museums in Görlitz and Dresden. While the three museums answer visitors' questions about nature, the eight Senckenberg research institutes gain new insights into biodiversity. Two years ago, scientists were able to show for the first time how important the biodiversity of meadow areas is for different local interest groups. “We found that all groups surveyed could benefit from high biodiversity – from local residents to tourism,” emphasizes research assistant Sophie Peter.
Such projects are entirely in line with the company's statutes. This specifies that the role of biodiversity, including humans, in the development of the Earth system should be examined – from the past to the future. This also includes analyzing the risks to people and nature. A team of researchers from the Senckenberg Biodiversity and Climate Research Center Frankfurt (SBiK-F) and partner organizations in the joint EU project “FirEUrisk” found that the risk of forest fires will increase significantly across Europe in the coming decades. “Even in the scenario we calculated with the lowest CO2 increase, the average summer weather-related forest fire risk in Europe will increase by 24 percent compared to the historical average by 2050,” says the study’s first author, Jessica Hetzer.
