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Europe set to take better care of ecosystems and biodiversity. Photo by marcinjozwiak on Pixabay

Brussels, 15 August 2024

By the Directorate-General for Environment

The regulation sets binding targets to restore degraded ecosystems, particularly those with the most potential to capture and store carbon and to prevent and reduce the impact of natural disasters.

The Regulation on Nature Restoration (Nature Restoration Law) will enter into force on Sunday 18 August.

Full implementation of the law is crucial to restore the EU’s biodiversity and stop further biodiversity loss, to reach climate neutrality by 2050 and adapt to climate change, and to enhance food security for EU citizens. In doing so, the law will support the achievement of other European ambitions, such as water security.

It is also a key instrument to help the EU and its Member States meet international biodiversity commitments under the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework.

The law sets in motion a process for continuous and sustained recovery of nature across the EU’s land and sea while supporting more sustainable economic development and agricultural production and working hand in hand with the development of renewable energy.

As an overall target to be reached at the EU level, Member States will put in place 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 in place for all ecosystems that need restoration.

The law includes requirements to put in place restoration measures to achieve the good condition of key habitat types and habitats of species on land and at sea. It also requires maintaining urban green space and urban tree canopy cover and increasing this after 2030.

It will help achieve, by 2030, the objective of restoring at least 25,000 km of rivers into free-flowing rivers. In addition, it will contribute to reversing the decline of pollinator populations and improving their diversity, enhance biodiversity in agricultural ecosystems and the biodiversity of forest ecosystems, and contribute to the commitment to plant at least three billion additional trees by 2030 at the EU level.

National restoration plans

Different restoration targets apply to different ecosystems and Member States will decide the specific measures they will put in place on their territories. For this purpose, each Member State will develop a national restoration plan, setting out restoration needs and measures to fulfil the obligations and achieve the targets of the law adapted to the national context, and taking into account the diversity of different regions.

National restoration plans should include a timeline for implementation, the financial resources needed and intended means of financing, as well as expected benefits, especially for climate change adaptation and mitigation. Member States need to identify synergies with other policies, such as 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 Commission within two years from the date of entry into force, setting out milestones for 2030, 2040 and 2050. These plans need to be developed openly and transparently, allowing the public and all relevant stakeholders to participate in the process. The Commission will support national authorities in creating these plans.

The Commission will assess the draft plans and may make observations that Member States must take into account in their final plans. Within six months of receiving any observations, each Member State must finalise its plan, publish it and submit it to the Commission. The European Environment Agency will draw up regular technical reports on progress towards the targets. Member States will have to review their plans by 2032 and 2042 at the latest.

Member States can mobilise the necessary funds from public and private sources, including from EU funds. They can draw from a variety of EU funding opportunities, including the common agricultural policy funds, regional funds, the LIFE Programme, Horizon Europe (the EU research fund) and the European Maritime, Fisheries and Aquaculture Fund.

Specific targets and obligations

To meet the EU-wide objectives for nature restoration, the Regulation sets quantified and time-bound restoration targets for habitats included in Annex I of the Habitats Directive (including forest habitats, peatlands, grasslands, rivers and lakes) as well as targets for habitats of protected species under the Habitats and the Birds Directives, and restoration targets for essential marine habitats covered by the nature directives and the Marine Strategy Framework Directive.

Beyond the habitats covered by existing legislation, to ensure the continued provisions of ecosystem services to European citizens, the law requires Member States:

  • to halt the loss of urban green and increase urban green space and urban tree canopy cover
  • to restore the natural connectivity of rivers and the natural functions of related floodplains
  • to halt and reverse pollinator decline
  • to restore and rewet peatlands under agricultural use
  • to put in place measures aiming to increase farmland bird populations and to achieve a positive trend in certain other key biodiversity indicators in agricultural ecosystems
  • to achieve a positive trend in a range of biodiversity indicators in forest ecosystems
  • to contribute to the EU-level commitment of planting at least three billion additional trees by 2030
Background

The economic cost of the degradation of nature is very high. Every euro spent on restoration can deliver a return on investment of more than €8, depending on the ecosystem. Only healthy and productive ecosystems can provide the many services we all depend on, including resilience to climate change and natural disasters, such as droughts and floods as well as long-term food security.

More than half of global GDP depends on nature and its services. The European Central Bank found that in the Eurozone, around 3 million companies (which is 72% of companies in the eurozone) are highly dependent on at least one ecosystem service to produce their goods or provide their services. Severe losses of functionality in these ecosystems would cause critical problems for these companies and the European economy.

The bio-economy also relies on nature for its resources. Restoring and maintaining biodiversity in agricultural, marine, forest and other ecosystems is economically profitable and provides a more resilient and stable production of agricultural and fisheries products as well as timber and other materials for the bio-economy.

Despite EU and international efforts, biodiversity loss and the degradation of ecosystems continue at an alarming rate, harming people, the economy, nature and the climate. Today, over 80% of conservation status assessments for European habitat types are in poor or bad status with many further deteriorating. Past efforts to protect and preserve nature have not been able to reverse this worrying trend.

Flagship reports such as the European Environment Agency’s 2018 State of Nature in the EU report or the work of the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) show that European ecosystems are under increasing pressure, especially from land use and land use changes and suffer from climate change and other threats such as nutrient pollution due to overuse of fertilisers and chemical inputs.

The law is a key element of the European Green Deal and the EU Biodiversity Strategy and builds on existing EU environmental legislation.

For More Information

Source – EU Commission

 


Deutsche Umweltministerin Steffi Lemke zum Inkrafttreten des europäischen Nature Restoration Law

Berlin, 16 August 2024

Die EU-Verordnung hat die Wiederherstellung der Natur in Europa zum Ziel, denn über 80 Prozent der Ökosysteme sind in einem schlechten Zustand. Sie bietet viele Chancen, unsere Landschaft fit für die Zukunft zu machen.

Am Sonntag, den 18. August 2024 tritt die EU-Verordnung für die Wiederherstellung der Natur in Kraft (auch bekannt als “Nature Restoration Law”).

Bundesumweltministerin Steffi Lemke: “Ich freue mich sehr, dass die EU-Verordnung zur Wiederherstellung der Natur am Sonntag in Kraft tritt. Sie ist ein großer Fortschritt für die Sicherung unserer Lebensgrundlagen. Dieses Gesetz soll unsere Natur schützen, damit sie uns vor den Folgen der Klimakrise schützen kann: Agrarlandschaften können humusreichere Böden haben, unsere Wälder können naturnäher und widerstandsfähiger werden, Flüsse und ihre Auen brauchen mehr Raum. Statt versiegelt und verdrängt soll Natur wiederhergestellt werden. Intakte Natur ist gerade in der Klimakrise besonders wichtig. Sie kann CO2 speichern und hilft uns damit beim Klimaschutz. Stabile Naturlandschaften sind auch selbst widerstandsfähiger gegen die Auswirkungen der Klimakrise. Mit diesen Zielen vor Augen werden wir in den kommenden Jahren den nationalen Wiederherstellungsplan erstellen. Dafür ist es wichtig, dass wir miteinander reden und dass wir den Naturschutz gemeinsam angehen. Wenn das gelingt, ist es eine Investition in unsere Zukunft, von der alle profitieren.“

Hintergrund:

Die EU-Verordnung hat die Wiederherstellung der Natur in Europa zum Ziel, denn über 80 Prozent der Ökosysteme sind in einem schlechten Zustand. Dafür sollen EU-weit auf 20 Prozent der Land- und Meeresflächen Maßnahmen zur Stärkung von Ökosystemen eingeleitet werden. Auch bestimmte wichtige Lebensraumtypen in schlechtem Zustand sollen wiederhergestellt werden, bis 2030 mindestens 30 Prozent, bis 2040 60 Prozent und bis 2050 90 Prozent. Die Mitgliedstaaten sollen hierfür nationale Wiederherstellungspläne erarbeiten, ein Prozess, bei dem die gesamte Gesellschaft beteiligt wird. Die Verordnung umfasst alle wichtigen Ökosysteme der Gesamtlandschaft, von Stadtgrün über Meeresböden und Moore bis hin zu Wäldern. Sie bietet viele Chancen, unsere Landschaft fit für die Zukunft zu machen. Der Entwurf wurde in der Öffentlichkeit kontrovers diskutiert, weil er viele verschiedene Interessen tangiert.

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