On December 17, 2013, the current minister of the environment for The Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Building and Nuclear Safety assumed the office.
 The loss of biodiversity and ecosystem functions over the last half century have impacted the extent that nature can contribute to human quality of life, and continued declines could pose a major threat to the continued existence of human civilization, unless a rapid course correction is made
 Some nature writers believe wilderness areas are vital for the human spirit and creativity, and some ecologists consider wilderness areas to be an integral part of the Earth's self-sustaining natural ecosystem (the biosphere)

