The European Union has agreed on a new nature restoration law, with a target of restoring at least 20% of the EU’s land and sea areas by 2030 and all ecosystems in need of restoration by 2050.
According to the new law, EU member states must restore at least 30% of habitats covered within the new law, such as forests, grasslands, lakes, and coral beds, from poor to good condition. The law also includes progressive targets to increase restored habitats by 60% by 2040 and 90% by 2050.
Also included in the law are guidelines for improving biodiversity in agricultural ecosystems.
These requirements prioritize restoring drained peatlands as the practice has been identified as the most cost-effective solution to reduce emissions in the agriculture sector. EU countries will reportedly be required to make progress in two of three indicators of biodiversity improvement: the grassland butterfly index, share of agricultural land with high biodiversity landscape features, or stock of organic carbon in cropland soil. Measures must also be made to improve the common farmland bird index, another indicator of biodiversity.
The law includes provisions for the agricultural ecosystems under extraordinary circumstances if targets result in severe reductions of land needed for EU food production.
“Today is an important day for Europe, as we move from protecting and conserving nature to restoring it," said César Luena, member of the EU Parliament. "The new law will also help us to fulfill many of our international environmental commitments. The regulation will restore degraded ecosystems while respecting the agricultural sector by giving flexibility to member states. I would like to thank scientists for providing the scientific evidence and fighting climate denial and young people for reminding us that there is no planet B, nor plan B.”
The EU Commission proposed the nature restoration law in June of 2022 following research that indicated 80% of Europe’s habitats were in poor shape. The World Economic Forum has confirmed similar trends around the world, including a two-thirds drop in natural abundance and an increasing number of species under threat of extinction. Also found, however, is the ability for ambitious targets to restore biodiversity and reverse this loss.
Additional restoration specifics outlined in the EU nature restoration law includes the prioritization of Natura 2000 sites, or protected nature sites within the EU, the planting of three billion trees, and the restoration of over 15,500 miles of rivers.
The new law is expected to reach the EU’s international commitments in terms of global biodiversity targets, specifically the UN Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity framework. The Commission also found that the new law will benefit the EU economy, with every euro invested resulting in at least 8 euros in benefits.
