Danish Society for Nature Conservation
Encyclopedia
The Danish Society for Nature Conservation, in Danish
Danmarks Naturfredningsforening, founded 1911, is an incorporated
non-governmental organization
based in Denmark
. It works for environmental protection
and biodiversity
, improved environmental legislation
, consideration for the natural environment
in public planning
, and public access to natural resource
s.
The Society is a member of the International Union for Conservation of Nature. Its name has been translated into English in several different ways, including Danish Nature Preservation Foundation, Danish Society for the Conservation of Nature, and Danish Society for Nature Preservation, but 'Danish Society for Nature Conservation' is the English term which the society uses itself.
at the Palace Hotel in Copenhagen
as the 'Society for Nature Conservation' (Forening for Naturfredning). For many years, its focus was on promoting public access to beach
es and forest
s, particularly to the Øresund Strait and the Jægersborg Deer Park
. By 1912 it was campaigning against litter, with the slogan "Sandwich wrappers and egg shells don't look pretty in forest pools!" It also opposed billboard
s along country roads and campaigned for maintenance of roadside trees and boulders.
By 1925, the Society had over 3,000 members, and in the same year it changed its name to the Danish Society for Nature Conservation (Danmarks Naturfredningsforening), signifying that it had gained a nationwide status. In 1937, as the result of the intervention of the Danish Prime Minister Thorvald Stauning
, the Nature Conservation Act was modified to give the Society a statutory status in conservation matters.
In 1987, the Society's membership peaked at 260,784. However, although competition with similar bodies has now led to a fall to some 140,000 members, it remains the largest nature conservation and environmental organisation in Denmark.
The Society has more than ninety branches and employs a secretariat of some fifty people. Its national offices are at Masnedøgade 20, Copenhagen.
journal
Natur og Miljø ('Nature and Environment'), with a circulation of around 160,000.
Danish language
Danish is a North Germanic language spoken by around six million people, principally in the country of Denmark. It is also spoken by 50,000 Germans of Danish ethnicity in the northern parts of Schleswig-Holstein, Germany, where it holds the status of minority language...
Danmarks Naturfredningsforening, founded 1911, is an incorporated
Incorporation (business)
Incorporation is the forming of a new corporation . The corporation may be a business, a non-profit organisation, sports club, or a government of a new city or town...
non-governmental organization
Non-governmental organization
A non-governmental organization is a legally constituted organization created by natural or legal persons that operates independently from any government. The term originated from the United Nations , and is normally used to refer to organizations that do not form part of the government and are...
based in Denmark
Denmark
Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...
. It works for environmental protection
Environmental protection
Environmental protection is a practice of protecting the environment, on individual, organizational or governmental level, for the benefit of the natural environment and humans. Due to the pressures of population and our technology the biophysical environment is being degraded, sometimes permanently...
and biodiversity
Biodiversity
Biodiversity is the degree of variation of life forms within a given ecosystem, biome, or an entire planet. Biodiversity is a measure of the health of ecosystems. Biodiversity is in part a function of climate. In terrestrial habitats, tropical regions are typically rich whereas polar regions...
, improved environmental legislation
Environmental law
Environmental law is a complex and interlocking body of treaties, conventions, statutes, regulations, and common law that operates to regulate the interaction of humanity and the natural environment, toward the purpose of reducing the impacts of human activity...
, consideration for the natural environment
Natural environment
The natural environment encompasses all living and non-living things occurring naturally on Earth or some region thereof. It is an environment that encompasses the interaction of all living species....
in public planning
Urban planning
Urban planning incorporates areas such as economics, design, ecology, sociology, geography, law, political science, and statistics to guide and ensure the orderly development of settlements and communities....
, and public access to natural resource
Natural resource
Natural resources occur naturally within environments that exist relatively undisturbed by mankind, in a natural form. A natural resource is often characterized by amounts of biodiversity and geodiversity existent in various ecosystems....
s.
The Society is a member of the International Union for Conservation of Nature. Its name has been translated into English in several different ways, including Danish Nature Preservation Foundation, Danish Society for the Conservation of Nature, and Danish Society for Nature Preservation, but 'Danish Society for Nature Conservation' is the English term which the society uses itself.
History
The Society was founded on 21 April 19111911 in Denmark
-Incumbents:* Monarch - HM Frederick VIII* Prime minister - Klaus Berntsen-Deaths:* February 3 – Christian Bohr, physician * December 5 – Edvard Petersen, painter -See also:...
at the Palace Hotel in Copenhagen
Copenhagen
Copenhagen is the capital and largest city of Denmark, with an urban population of 1,199,224 and a metropolitan population of 1,930,260 . With the completion of the transnational Øresund Bridge in 2000, Copenhagen has become the centre of the increasingly integrating Øresund Region...
as the 'Society for Nature Conservation' (Forening for Naturfredning). For many years, its focus was on promoting public access to beach
Beach
A beach is a geological landform along the shoreline of an ocean, sea, lake or river. It usually consists of loose particles which are often composed of rock, such as sand, gravel, shingle, pebbles or cobblestones...
es and forest
Forest
A forest, also referred to as a wood or the woods, is an area with a high density of trees. As with cities, depending where you are in the world, what is considered a forest may vary significantly in size and have various classification according to how and what of the forest is composed...
s, particularly to the Øresund Strait and the Jægersborg Deer Park
Jægersborg Dyrehave
Dyrehaven , officially Jægersborg Dyrehave, is a forest park north of Copenhagen. It covers around 11 square kilometres...
. By 1912 it was campaigning against litter, with the slogan "Sandwich wrappers and egg shells don't look pretty in forest pools!" It also opposed billboard
Billboard
Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis...
s along country roads and campaigned for maintenance of roadside trees and boulders.
By 1925, the Society had over 3,000 members, and in the same year it changed its name to the Danish Society for Nature Conservation (Danmarks Naturfredningsforening), signifying that it had gained a nationwide status. In 1937, as the result of the intervention of the Danish Prime Minister Thorvald Stauning
Thorvald Stauning
Thorvald August Marinus Stauning was the first social democratic Prime Minister of Denmark. He served as Prime Minister from 1924 to 1926 and again from 1929 until his death in 1942....
, the Nature Conservation Act was modified to give the Society a statutory status in conservation matters.
In 1987, the Society's membership peaked at 260,784. However, although competition with similar bodies has now led to a fall to some 140,000 members, it remains the largest nature conservation and environmental organisation in Denmark.
The Society has more than ninety branches and employs a secretariat of some fifty people. Its national offices are at Masnedøgade 20, Copenhagen.
Publications
As well as books and leaflets, the Society publishes the quarterlyAcademic quarter (year division)
An academic quarter refers to the division of an academic year into four parts, found in a minority of universities in the United States and in some European and Asian countries.-Background and trends:...
journal
Academic journal
An academic journal is a peer-reviewed periodical in which scholarship relating to a particular academic discipline is published. Academic journals serve as forums for the introduction and presentation for scrutiny of new research, and the critique of existing research...
Natur og Miljø ('Nature and Environment'), with a circulation of around 160,000.
Chairmen
- 1911-1915: Alfred Chin (1843-1922), landowner
- 1915-1921: V. M. Amdrup, banker
- 1921-1960: Erick Struckmann (1875-1962), artist
- 1960-1963: Vagn Jensen, Head of Ministry of Education
Presidents
- 1963-1984: Valdemar M. Mikkelsen, Professor of Botany at the Royal Veterinary and Agricultural UniversityUniversity of Copenhagen Faculty of Life SciencesThe faculty previously known as the Royal Veterinary and Agricultural University is located in Frederiksberg, Denmark and was established in 1856. As of 1 January 2007, the University merged with the University of Copenhagen...
- 1984-1996: Svend Bichel (born 1943), schoolmaster
- 1996-2006: Poul Henrik Harritz (born 1956), journalist
- 2006 - : Ella Maria Bisschop-Larsen (born 1951), biologist
See also
- Danish Organisation for Renewable Energy
- Danish Forest and Nature AgencyDanish Forest and Nature AgencyThe Danish Forest and Nature Agency is part of the Ministry of the Environment of Denmark , and deals with a number of tasks in nature conservation and forestry. In addition, the agency is in charge of operation and administration of the state-owned forests and the rest of Miljøministeriet's areas...
- Directorate of State Forestry (Denmark)Directorate of State Forestry (Denmark)The Directorate of State Forestry was created by Law 134 on May 13, 1911. It replaced the previous overførsterinspektorater and forest steward districts...
- List of national parks of Denmark
- Wind power in DenmarkWind power in DenmarkWind power provided 18.9% of electricity production and 24.1% of generation capacity in Denmark in 2008, Denmark was a pioneer in developing commercial wind power during the 1970s, and today almost half of the wind turbines around the world are produced by Danish manufacturers such as Vestas and...
External links
- Danish Society for Nature Conservation - official web site in EnglishEnglish languageEnglish is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
- Danmarks Naturfredningsforening - official web site in DanishDanish languageDanish is a North Germanic language spoken by around six million people, principally in the country of Denmark. It is also spoken by 50,000 Germans of Danish ethnicity in the northern parts of Schleswig-Holstein, Germany, where it holds the status of minority language...
- Danmarks Naturfredningsforening - official FacebookFacebookFacebook is a social networking service and website launched in February 2004, operated and privately owned by Facebook, Inc. , Facebook has more than 800 million active users. Users must register before using the site, after which they may create a personal profile, add other users as...
page (in Danish)