The Federal Office for the Protection of Nature is a Federal Authority affiliated to the Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Protection and Nuclear Safety (BMU). It is the consultant of the BMU for all problems related to national and international nature and countryside protection; it promotes nature protection projects, fosters research programmes and is the authority deciding on the importation and the exportation of protected species of plants and animals. BfN has branches in Leipzig and on Vilm island near Rügen (Eastern Germany).