Volkswagen's efforts concerning the protection of endangered animals and plants are backed up by the first Species Protection Report of the German Federal Agency for Nature Conservation.

The report highlights successes in protecting wolves and wild cats - both species are severely at risk of extinction. Their protection is one of Volkswagen's key efforts in cooperation with several environment NGOs such as the NABU. The return of beavers and sea eagles are good news as well. Volkswagen fostered projects in restoring flood plains, leading to conservation and expansion of the species' habitat.

On the other hand the report proves that there is an urgent need for further efforts in order to stop the negative trend. In Germany, about a third of the 11,000 species studied are classified as threatened and further five per cent are already extinct. Almost 28 per cent of all vertebrates are endangered. Even more alarming: 46 per cent of the invertebrates, such as insects, are considered as endangered, extremely seldom or already extinct. Since 2007, protection of biodiversity is an official goal of the Volkswagen Group. Since 2008, more than 32 European sites of Volkswagen, Audi, Seat, Skoda and Porsche have been examined for ecological risks. Volkswagen's concrete efforts in are displayed in detail in its progress report, which gets updated periodically.

Further information:

• <link https: www.bfn.de fileadmin bfn presse dokumente artenschutzreport_download.pdf _blank external-link-new-window externen link in neuem>Species Protection Report 2015 (German)
• <link file:3840 _blank download herunterladen der datei>Volkswagen's Progress Report 2013/2014
• <link http: www.volkswagenag.com content vwcorp info_center de news nature.html _blank external-link-new-window externen link in neuem>Official press release (German)