PURPOSE: to lay down rules at EU level on the restoration of ecosystems to ensure the recovery to biodiverse and resilient nature across the EU.
LEGISLATIVE ACT: Regulation (EU) 2024/1991 of the European Parliament and of the Council on nature restoration and amending Regulation (EU) 2022/869.
CONTENT: the regulation aims to put in place measures to restore at least 20% of the EU's land and sea areas by 2030 and all ecosystems in need of restoration by 2050. It defines specific legally binding targets and obligations for nature restoration in each of the ecosystems covered, namely terrestrial, coastal and freshwater, forest, agricultural and urban ecosystems, including wetlands, grasslands, forests, rivers and lakes, as well as marine ecosystems, including seagrass and sponge and coral beds.
The regulation aims to mitigate climate change and the effects of natural disasters, as well as to enhance food security. It will help the EU to fulfil its international environmental commitments and restore European nature.
Restoration of terrestrial, coastal, freshwater and marine ecosystems
For habitats listed in the regulation as being in poor condition, Member States must take measures to restore: (i) at least 30% by 2030; (ii) at least 60% by 2040; (iii) at least 90% by 2050. Member States will, as appropriate, until 2030 give priority to restoration measures in areas that are located in Natura 2000 sites.
Member States must put in place measures to ensure that once areas have reached good condition, those habitat types do not significantly deteriorate.
Specific ecosystems measures
The regulation lays down specific requirements for different types of ecosystem. In particular, Member States must:
- put in place measures aiming to enhance two out of these three indicators: grassland butterflies’ population, stock of organic carbon in cropland mineral soils and share of agricultural land with high-diversity landscape features;
- restore at least 30% of drained peatlands by 2030 (of which at least a quarter must be rewetted), 40% by 2040 and 50% by 2050 (of which at least a third must be rewetted);
- take action to remove man-made barriers to the connectivity of surface waters with the aim of restoring at least 25 000km of free-flowing rivers by 2030;
- ensure that by 31 December 2030, there is no net loss in the total national area of urban green space and of urban tree canopy cover in urban ecosystem areas;
- achieve an increasing trend at national level of the common forest bird index;
- contribute to the commitment of planting at least three billion additional trees by 2030 at Union level.
The regulation introduces effective measures to improve pollinator diversity and reverse the decline of pollinator populations at the latest by 2030.
National restoration plans
Member States must plan ahead and submit national restoration plans to the Commission, showing how they will deliver on the targets. They must also monitor and report on their progress, based on EU-wide biodiversity indicators.
Temporary suspension
To allow for a rapid and effective response when an unforeseeable, exceptional and unprovoked event occurs that is outside the EU’s control, with severe Union-wide consequences on the availability of land required to secure sufficient agricultural production for Union food consumption, implementing powers should be conferred on the Commission in respect of the temporary suspension of the application of the relevant provisions of this Regulation to the extent and for such period as is strictly necessary, up to a maximum of 12 months, while preserving the objectives of this Regulation.
By 2033, the Commission will review the application of the regulation and its impacts on the agricultural, fisheries and forestry sectors, as well as its wider socio-economic effects.
ENTRY INTO FORCE: 18.8.2024.