The European Regulation on Nature Restoration (Nature Restoration Law) entered into force yesterday. The full implementation of this law is crucial for restoring the EU’s biodiversity and halting further biodiversity loss, achieving climate neutrality by 2050, adapting to climate change, and enhancing food security for EU citizens. In doing so, the law will support the achievement of other European ambitions, such as water security.
What is the aim of this law?
The law initiates a process for continuous and sustained recovery of nature across the EU's land and sea territories, supporting more sustainable economic development and agricultural production, and working in conjunction with the development of renewable energy.
As an overall goal to be reached at the EU level, Member States will implement restoration measures in at least 20% of the EU's land areas and 20% of its sea areas by 2030. By 2050, such measures should be implemented for all ecosystems in need of restoration.
The Nature Restoration Law aims to:
- Restore 20% of the EU's land and sea areas by 2030
- Achieve full restoration of ecosystems across the EU by 2050
- Reverse biodiversity loss and improve habitats for species
- Enhance climate resilience by restoring natural ecosystems
- Secure food supplies through sustainable ecosystem management
- Improve urban green spaces and restore rivers, wetlands, and peatlands
- Reverse the decline of pollinators and increase forest biodiversity
- Require Member States to develop and implement national restoration plans
What to expect now?
Different restoration targets are set for various ecosystems, and it is up to individual Member States to, within two years, decide the specific measures they will implement within their territories. To this end, each Member State is required to develop a national restoration plan that outlines the restoration needs and measures to meet the obligations and achieve the targets set by the law, tailored to their national context and considering the diversity of different regions.
National restoration plans should include a timeline for implementation, necessary financial resources, intended financing methods, and the expected benefits, particularly in relation to climate change adaptation and mitigation. These plans should also identify synergies with other policies, including those related to climate change mitigation and adaptation, land degradation, disaster prevention, agriculture, fisheries, forestry, and renewable energy development.
Member States must submit a draft plan to the European Commission detailing milestones for 2030, 2040, and 2050. The development of these plans must be conducted in an open and transparent manner, allowing public participation and input from all relevant stakeholders. The Commission will assist national authorities in formulating these plans.
Beyond the habitats already protected by existing legislation, the new law mandates that Member States take further actions to ensure the provision of ecosystem services to European citizens. These requirements include:
- Halting the loss of urban green spaces and increasing urban greenery and tree canopy coverage.
- Restoring the natural connectivity of rivers and the natural functions of associated floodplains.
- Halting and reversing the decline of pollinators.
- Restoring and re-wetting peatlands that are currently used for agriculture.
- Implementing measures to increase farmland bird populations and to achieve positive trends in other key biodiversity indicators within agricultural ecosystems.
- Achieving positive trends in various biodiversity indicators within forest ecosystems.
- Contributing to the EU-wide goal of planting at least three billion additional trees by 2030
Do you want to know more? Read more: https://environment.ec.europa.eu/news/nature-restoration-law-enters-force-2024-08-15_en
