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01-06-2023

The endangered EU Nature Restoration Law

#RestorationNature



The Agriculture and Rural Development Committee (AGRI) and the Fisheries Committee (PECH) of the European Parliament have voted against the Commission's proposal for the EU Nature Restoration Act. With this opinion we face the unprecedented impact of the collapse of our ecosystems and climate change. Once again, they ignore the scientific evidence that shows that if we want to ensure long-term food security, we need to restore nature.

The Biodiversity Research Institute (IRBio), in 2021 we joined the United Nations Decade on Ecosystem Restoration, led by the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) and the Organization of the United Nations for Agriculture and Food (FAO).

On June 15, 2023, the European Commission will again vote on the Law for the Restoration of Nature. The purpose pursued by this proposed Regulation is to recover degraded ecosystems throughout the EU and, in particular, those with the greatest potential to capture and store carbon. It sets as a global goal that Member States will have to put in place restoration measures that, as a whole, cover, by 2030, at least 20% of the land and sea areas of the Union and, by 2050, all ecosystems that need restoration.

The Ecological Restoration Group of the AEET, part of the Society for Ecological Restoration SER, is asking for support for the approval of the Law for the Restoration of Nature.

Why Restoraing nature?

Healthy ecosystems are more resistant to the effects of climate change, they also help to adapt to it, improve connectivity with other ecosystems and increase the populations of the species that live there. Restoration measures can include improving degraded soils and agricultural land with natural elements such as hedgerows and trees, restoring monoculture forest plantations with native mixed forests, greening cities, buildings and infrastructure, replanting bottom seagrass beds of the sea, etc. The restoration of nature does not imply stopping economic activity in the restored ecosystems, but it is mainly about living and producing together with nature and in a more respectful way with it.

Costs and benefits of the law?

Healthier and more biodiverse ecosystems deliver significantly better outcomes, including climate change mitigation, disaster prevention, water quality, cleaner air, healthier soils and overall well-being.

In general, according to the impact assessment, each euro spent on restoration provides a return on investment between 8 and 38 euros, depending on the ecosystem, in benefits derived from the many services that healthy ecosystems provide (according to the EU) .

Restoring marine ecosystems will allow fish populations to recover, reversing the decline of pollinators will benefit agriculture and more biodiverse forests that will be more resistant to climate change.





For more information and support

https://www.restorenature.eu/en/faq-on-nature-restoration#food%20security