Nature Cadastre
How can we ensure that nature, as the foundation of life, is given greater economic and political priority? The Nature Cadastre provides a public data infrastructure that systematically records the condition of ecosystems and natural capital services at parcel level and makes this information available to both public and private users.
Beyond this, it embeds this technical data infrastructure within politics, business and society to enable nature-related decision-making in Germany and, in the longer term, across the EU. Following its successful establishment, the Nature Cadastre will be transferred into an independent non-profit limited liability company (gGmbH) in summer 2026 to ensure long-term independence and facilitate its integration into relevant policy frameworks.
Objective / Vision
A pilot study aimed at developing an early indicator that identifies and contextualises expert assessments of the impact of trends and developments on soil health in Germany over the next ten years.
Contact
Benedict Witte, Martin Stuchtey
Method
A survey of 1,500 stakeholders in Germany on the state of soil health ten years ago, today and ten years from now. Participants are selected to represent as broad a range as possible of regions, soil functions and professional backgrounds. The survey asks participants to assess the development of seven different soil functions, their links to ecosystem services, as well as the significance of economic, technological and political framework conditions, drivers and countermeasures.
In the private sector, the Nature Cadastre is being established as a de facto data standard, starting with the data-driven modernisation of ecological certification processes in collaboration with Bioland, Naturland and leading retail companies. Technical development follows an iterative approach: for each use case, an initial set of ecological performance data is defined and implemented, then further developed based on real-world use
Who is the study aimed at?
The full integration of the Nature Cadastre as an underlying nature data infrastructure across political, social and economic contexts.
Target Groups:
- European Commission: DG ENV (NRL monitoring), DG AGRI (CAP post-2027), DG CLIMA (CRCF Framework); “breaking down silos”
- Member States: Implementation of national restoration plans, national nature compensation markets and funding programmes
- Companies: Businesses with nature resilience needs and reporting obligations
- Financial sector: Nature risk pricing and nature performance-linked financial products
- Farmers and landowners: Access to the natural capital market and remuneration for ecosystem services
Political Context – Why Now?
The EU faces a structural challenge: DG ENV, DG AGRI and DG CLIMA are pursuing policy objectives related to nature that require the same underlying primary data – yet they continue to operate in silos. At the strategic level, including among EU Commissioners and senior EU policymakers, awareness of this gap is growing, and there are clear indications of political support for a shared nature data infrastructure. The Nature Cadastre directly addresses this need.
How is Forum Nantesbuch involved?
Together with members of its network, Forum Nantesbuch helped further develop the survey by incorporating as many different perspectives and backgrounds as possible and carefully refining its language. The network also collaborated on identifying relevant stakeholders and experts to participate in the study.
Project Timeline
The pilot survey is currently being implemented and will run until October 2026. Following the pilot phase, the survey may be established as a long-term study conducted every two years.