The Johann Heinrich von Thünen Institute is a German Federal Research Institute for Rural Areas, Forestry and Fisheries, founded in 2008, under the auspices of the German Ministry of Food and  Agriculture. The Thünen Institute comprises 14 institutes within three main research areas: Agriculture, Forestry, and Fisheries. They aim to find ways to develop sustainable uses of natural resources for policymakers and society through an interdisciplinary approach between economy, ecology, and technology.