Municipal nature-based climate protection grant (444)

Direct applicants are German municipalities and districts, municipal associations, legally dependent municipal enterprises, municipal special-purpose associations, and other public-law corporations not attributable to the federal or state governments, such as churches with public-law status.

Municipalities can pass the grant on through a private-law agreement to eligible recipients, including municipal or church housing organisations, churches, charitable associations and foundations. For the listed majority-public-owned company category, municipal/state ownership must total more than 50%, with at least 25% municipal ownership. Onward grants to private-law companies or owners' associations without at least 25% municipal ownership are excluded. Housing cooperatives must be permanently exempt from corporation tax. The municipality remains responsible for proper use, state-aid compliance and evidence. Other eligible public-law corporations cannot pass grants on.

• Location and ownership: works must be in German settlements or on their edge, meaning the nearest housing is no more than 100 metres away in a straight line. A.1 plans may additionally cover areas outside settlements, and A.2 equipment may also be used there. Restricted-access public sites such as schoolyards can qualify. Private land is generally excluded, but eligible onward recipients may carry out funded works on their own land.
• Voluntary work: legally required measures, such as compensation planting required by a building permit, are excluded. Land purchase and greening buildings, roofs or façades are not funded.
• Direct applications — market activity: offering goods or services on a market counts as an economic activity under EU state-aid rules. This depends on the activity, not the organisation's legal form or how it is financed; a public body can therefore carry out an economic activity too. For a direct application to this programme, the funded project must not involve such activity, unless the support does not constitute state aid for another reason. KfW assesses this case by case.
• Municipal onward grants: when a municipality passes the grant on, the recipient's activity must also be assessed under state-aid rules. The municipality can pass the money on either where it does not constitute state aid, or under an applicable set of rules that legally permits the aid. In the latter case, the municipality must meet all the conditions of those rules, including documentation and publication duties and the required declarations from the recipient. This is a separate route from applying directly to KfW.
• Other funding: combined loans and grants must not exceed eligible costs. Another federal programme cannot fund the same measure. An exception allows federal special infrastructure funds allocated to the states to cover the applicant's share, subject to the responsible state authority deciding whether this also complies with those funds' rules.

The module conditions affect which project you can submit:

• A: equipment, improvements and training require a nature-friendly care plan covering the municipality's entire green-space stock within settlements, or accepted StadtGrün naturnah certification. Without one, apply for A.1 together with A.3 implementation. A.1 cannot fund a stand-alone plan; the municipal representative body must adopt it. Equipment must be in Annex 2. Eligible mowers cut rather than shred vegetation and must be adjustable to a cutting height of at least 10 cm. Rotary-impact/flail machinery and ride-on carriers such as tractors are excluded; eligible hand-guided or remote-controlled carriers are separately listed.
• B: if you seek funding for a tree plan (B.1), apply at the same time for funding for at least one street-tree planting, other tree planting or existing-tree site improvement (B.2–B.4). The municipal representative body must adopt the plan. Street-tree planting must meet the German landscape-development research association FLL's planting recommendations, Part 1 (2015) and Part 2 (2010). Aim for a 36 m³ planting pit; smaller pits need justification and must still provide at least 12 m³ and 1.5 m depth. Use continuous insect-friendly green strips; justified individual pits need a planted surface of at least 6 m². Work on existing trees or their roots under B.4 must be done by qualified arboricultural staff, such as certified tree inspectors or European Tree Workers.
• C.1 — Small parks: parks must have at least 80% unsealed ground, target at least 50% tree-canopy cover, provide shaded seating and accessible, free public use; any lighting must be insect-friendly. Restricted-access municipal sites remain possible.
• C.2 — Children's nature areas: sites must be entirely unsealed, at least half natural with low-intensity care, independently reachable by children and without fixed playground equipment. Their minimum size is 1 hectare, or 0.5 hectare within existing green structures. Confirm absence of contamination at application and retain the evidence. A soil report must demonstrate the applicable soil-protection limits for children's play areas.
• C.3 — Forest gardens: these require at least 0.5 hectare, a lasting layered structure mainly of food-producing plants grown in the soil, suitable uncontaminated soil and a location near housing; sites with existing tree canopy above 20% are excluded. Check soil quality and contamination through the contaminated-site register or a soil assessment, confirm these at application and retain the evidence. A soil report must show the applicable limits for growing food. The municipality must involve local participants in developing and supporting an organisation to operate the garden.
• C.2 and C.3: both need plans for continuing operation after funding.
• C.4 — Urban woods: the minimum size is 0.5 hectare.
• C.5 water restoration: implement at least two of these: widen the channel/profile, remove artificial banks, flatten bank edges, create shallow-water zones, restore watercourses and edge vegetation, or improve bank habitats. New waterbodies and technical installations are excluded.
• D: D.1 requires staff with a completed relevant degree of at least bachelor's level, a progress report no later than nine months after approval, and participation in networking meetings. D.2 must restore rootable soil, water absorption and nature-friendly vegetation, not simply replace paving. At least 80% of the area must be fully unsealed; partial unsealing may cover at most 20%, with a sealing factor no higher than 0.2 (20% sealed). Deep foundations can partly remain. Disconnect the restored area from the sewer so rainwater infiltrates locally; exceptions need a technical justification. Contaminated-site remediation, groundwater remediation and mining-used sites are excluded. Former industrial sites are not automatically excluded, but absence of contamination must be demonstrated before works.

Use the programme's species and design requirements: the woody species excluded in Annex 1, including their cultivars and hybrids, cannot be funded. For area-based habitat measures, map habitat types and their ecological values before and after the work, with a projection to 2045. The value must not decline. Keeping the same value is allowed only to preserve a valuable habitat that could not be maintained without the measure.

Maintain the funded use of restored land, tree plantings and nature spaces at least through 2045. Equipment must remain in its funded use for at least three years after purchase or completion, or for the period specified in its annex. You bear ongoing care and maintenance costs. Report changes in use, ownership or control immediately to KfW during the contract and to the federal environment ministry (BMUKN) or its authorised body afterwards; the terms name the Federal Agency for Nature Conservation as the post-contract contact. Their consent is needed to retain eligibility, and new owners or controllers must take over the maintenance and care duties. Breaches can lead to recovery of some or all of the grant.

Estado

Aberto continuamente

Restrições da rodada

• Awards depend on available federal funds; there is no legal entitlement to a grant.[^c37]

Apply directly to KfW before starting. Both the application and the “Bestätigung zum Antrag” — the confirmation describing your project — must be signed and officially sealed. Send them once, either to Kommune@kfw.de or by post to KfW Niederlassung Berlin, 10865 Berlin. Use the forms on the official product page. Include the required supporting documents for your applicant type and measure; for D.2 this includes a site plan and photographs. If the confirmation form still shows old funding rates, calculate the grant using the current terms and enter that amount on the application form.

Wait for KfW's grant approval before signing any supply or service contract for the funded work, including contracts conditional on receiving the grant. Procurement procedures should also start only after approval. Planning and advice that will not form part of the grant application may be carried out earlier; non-eligible work and eligible but unfunded measures do not themselves count as starting this project.

Normally finish within 24 months of approval. One extension of up to 24 months can be requested, generally no earlier than six months before the funding period ends. Apply for B.5 or C.6 aftercare together with the underlying investment; it can run for up to 36 months after that work is completed.

Request payment for costs already incurred. Both the invoice date and payment date must fall within the funding period. Interim payments are available every six months, from €5,000, up to 90% of the total grant; submit the payment form and cost schedule. For aftercare, payment is made afterwards, on request, once KfW has received and accepted the completion confirmation and other required evidence. Claim the final payment with the completion confirmation and required records within six months of achieving the funding purpose, and no later than six months after the approved funding period ends. Depending on the measure, records include concepts, mapped project locations, habitat values and disposal evidence. KfW must accept the evidence before paying the final balance.