National Environmental Research Centre (NERI), Denmark

The National Environmental Research Institute (NERI) is an independent research institute under the Danish Ministry of Environment and Energy. NERI's mission is to provide a sound and informed scientific basis for making environmental decisions at the political, administrative and commercial levels.
 

The activities undertaken by NERI fall into four main categories:
• Research: NERI undertakes both applied research, directed at alleviating specific environmental problems, and long-term strategic research. The research activities support NERI's scientific consultancy and monitoring work.
• Monitoring: NERI undertakes monitoring in order to evaluate the effect of political/administrative measures and to provide an overview of developments in order to facilitate the early identification of environmental problems.
• Consultancy: NERI serves as scientific advisor to the Danish Parliament and the Ministry of Environment and Energy, as well as to other public authorities, private organizations and enterprises. The advice is provided in the form of analyses, reports and replies to inquiries, as well as through the participation of NERI staff in various commissions and committees.
• Dissemination of information: NERI targets dissemination of its research and monitoring findings through various channels ranging from scientific papers in international journals, to scientific reports and technical instructions, to popular scientific articles and reports in the mass media. In addition, NERI disseminates knowledge through participation in meetings and symposia
 

NERI's expertise is concentrated within the areas: natural processes and the state of the environment; tools and models for integrated environmental assessment and monitoring of species and habitats and the general state of the environment. Most of NERI's research departments are built up around medium oriented disciplines such as stream ecology, lake ecology, terrestrial ecology, etc. NERI is currently maintaining this expertise while at the same time reorienting its activities towards environmental problems within the areas of nature management, agriculture and forestry and our industrial society. With annual total finance in the late 1990s of 200 – 250 million DKK approximately 80% was allocated to the ten research departments and the remainder to central functions (management, secretariat, data processing, real estate). NERI derives about one third of the budget from programme and contract research. Of NERI's total resources, about 40% is devoted to research and 60% to monitoring, data activities and scientific consultancy.

The NERI Department of Landscape Ecology (LAND) undertakes research focusing on botanical and zoological ecology at the species, population, habitat and landscape levels, thereby providing a scientific basis for management of the terrestrial nature. Emphasis is placed on the processes influencing conditions for wild plants and animals in uncultivated areas, woodlands and in agricultural landscapes. The population and habitat-based studies support the development of integrated models describing changes in biodiversity at the landscape level as a result of forest management, agricultural practice and recreational activities including hunting.