Around 50% of the area of Germany is used for agriculture. Therefore, agriculture plays an important role in the conservation and valorisation of biodiversity. Current statements indicate that many causes for the decline in biodiversity are rooted in agricultural unsustainable practices and production systems.

Currently, data and indicators from existing biodiversity monitoring programs allow only limited scientifically robust conclusions about underlying cause-and-effect relationships or the impact of agricultural-environmental policies to promote biodiversity.

The project "National Monitoring of Biodiversity in Agricultural Landscapes" started in March 2019.

The national monitoring of biodiversity in agricultural landscapes is intended to provide scientifically sound answers to the following questions:

• How does biological diversity develop on open land-scapes under the influence of agricultural production, of land use, and agricultural structural change?
• How do changes in biological diversity impact the performance ability and stability of agricultural production systems?
• How do agricultural and environmental measures affect biological diversity and how shall the agricultural environment political approach develop further?

On behalf of the Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture a total of 12 specialist institutes of the Thuenen Institute and the Julius Kühn Institute as well as the Federal Office for Agriculture and Food are working together.
The joint project MonViA aims at a long-term implementation and is currently in the pilot phase, in which standardised recording methods and indicators are being developed and implemented on a test basis.