Restoring EU’s Nature
The EU Biodiversity Strategy for 2030, published in May 2020, is a key element of the European Green Deal. It aims at protecting nature, reversing degradation of ecosystems by restoring them across land and sea, through legally binding EU targets.
It suggests several important ecosystems, habitats or species to be considered, among which: wetlands/peatlands; free-flowing rivers; floodplains; marine and coastal ecosystems; soil; and urban ecosystems. In the strategy, the European Commission committed to put forward a proposal for legally binding EU nature restoration targets by 2021.
In October, a coalition of NGOs, including Wetlands International European Association, released a position paper reflecting their expectations with regards to the upcoming nature Restoration Law.
According to this coalition of NGOs, as the main objective, the law must contribute to halting and reversing biodiversity loss, resulting in the restoration of habitats, species and ecosystem functioning, connectivity and resilience at landscape level across the EU.
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The new restoration law must be targeted and result in urgent large-scale restoration across the EU.
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The new law should be additional to the relevant EU Directives so as to not undermine or duplicate existing EU nature and water protection obligations that include some restoration requirements.
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The restoration law should create synergies between the biodiversity and climate crisis agenda
Read the full paper