Publication: How could Europe restore its nature?
In early 2024, the European Parliament will hold a final vote that will decide the outcome of the European Union (EU) Nature Restoration Law (NRL), a hotly debated regulation that aims to halt and reverse biodiversity loss in Europe. An international team led by the University of Duisburg-Essen, and including scientists from University College Dublin (UCD), investigates the implications of the new regulation in an article published on December 15 in the journal Science.
The NRL requires EU member states to implement restoration measures across at least 20 per cent of land and sea by 2030, and across all ecosystems in need of restoration by 2050. Amongst other measures, the NRL provides specific targets for the rewetting of peatlands, as well as targets to increase pollinator populations. The NRL has already weathered several legislative hurdles. Most recently, it was approved by the European Parliament’s Environment Committee, after delegations of the Parliament and the Council of the EU agreed on the final text.
But will the regulation fulfil its ambitious objectives? The authors of the Science paper, which include scientists leading large European projects on nature restoration and biodiversity, analysed the implementation of previous European environmental directives and policies and evaluated the NRL’s prospect of success.