Explanatory Memorandum to COM(2022)304 - Nature restoration - Main contents
Please note
This page contains a limited version of this dossier in the EU Monitor.
| dossier | COM(2022)304 - Nature restoration. |
|---|---|
| source | COM(2022)304 |
| date | 22-06-2022 |
CONTEXT OF THE PROPOSAL
Reasons for and objectives of the proposal
Despite EU and international efforts, biodiversity loss and the degradation of ecosystems continue at an alarming rate, harming people, the economy and the climate. This is widely documented, notably in reports by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) 1 and the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services 2 , the Aichi Targets progress report 3 , and the Economics of Biodiversity: The Dasgupta Review 4 . Healthy ecosystems provide food and food security, clean water, carbon sinks and protection against natural disasters caused by climate change. They are essential for our long-term survival, well-being, prosperity and security, as they are the basis for Europe’s resilience.
The restoration of ecosystems, coupled with efforts to reduce wildlife trade and consumption, will also help prevent and build up resilience to possible future communicable diseases with zoonotic potential, therefore decreasing the risks of outbreaks and pandemics, and contribute to support EU and global efforts to apply the One Health approach, which recognises the intrinsic connection between human health, animal health and healthy resilient nature.
The 2022 IPCC report in particular highlighted that the world and Europe have a brief, rapidly closing window to secure a liveable future, as the rise in weather and climate extremes has led to some irreversible impacts as natural and human systems are pushed beyond their ability to adapt. It calls for the implementation of urgent actions for the restoration of degraded ecosystems, to mitigate the impacts of climate change, notably by restoring degraded wetlands and rivers, forest and agricultural ecosystems.
Recent geo-political developments have further underlined the need to safeguard food security and the resilience of food systems. Commodity price increases and concerns about global food security call for the need to address vulnerabilities, such as dependencies on imports, as well as the need to accelerate the transition towards food systems that are sustainable, and resilient 5 . Evidence shows that restoring agro-ecosytems has positive impacts on food productivity in the long-term, and the restoration of nature acts as an insurance policy to ensure the EU’s long-term sustainability and resilience.
In the final report of the Conference on the Future of Europe, published on 9 May 2022 6 , in their proposals on agriculture, food production, biodiversity and ecosystems, pollution, citizens asked in particular to ‘create, restore, better manage, and extend protected areas – for the conservation of biodiversity’; to ‘protect insects, in particular indigenous and pollinating insects, including through protection against invasive species and better enforcement of existing regulation’; as well as to ‘set binding national targets across the EU Member States for reforestation of native trees and local flora, taking into account different national situations and specificities’. When it comes to their proposals on information, awareness, dialogue and life-style, citizens asked in particular to ‘include food production and biodiversity protection as part of education, including the advantage of unprocessed over processed food, and promoting school gardens, subsidizing urban gardening projects and vertical farming’ and to ‘consider making biodiversity a mandatory subject in schools and raise awareness for biodiversity through the use of media campaigns and incentivised ‘competitions’ across the EU’ 7 .More decisive action is therefore needed to achieve the EU climate and biodiversity objectives for 2030 and for 2050, and to ensure the resilience of food systems.
More decisive action is therefore needed to achieve the EU climate and biodiversity objectives for 2030 and for 2050, and to ensure the resilience of food systems. The European Green Deal 8 commits to protecting and restoring nature. It states that the Commission will identify measures, including legal ones, to help Member States improve and restore damaged and carbon-rich ecosystems to good ecological status. The Green Deal also emphasised that all EU actions and policies should pull together to help the EU achieve a successful and just transition towards a sustainable future.
The EU Biodiversity Strategy for 2030 9 set out targets to further protect nature in the EU. However, it underlined that protection alone would not be enough: to reverse biodiversity loss, greater efforts are needed to bring nature back to good health across the EU, in protected areas and beyond. Therefore, the Commission committed to propose legally binding targets to restore degraded EU ecosystems, in particular those with the most potential to remove and store carbon and to prevent and reduce the impact of natural disasters.
The EU has so far failed to halt the loss of biodiversity. A recent study 10 finalised in the framework of the evaluation of the EU biodiversity strategy up to 2020 11 shows that the EU could not halt the loss of biodiversity between 2011 and 2020. It did not meet the voluntary target to restore at least 15% of degraded ecosystems by 2020 (in line with Aichi Target 15 of the Convention on Biological Diversity 12 ). The outlook for biodiversity and ecosystems is bleak and shows that the current approach is not working.
The European Parliament and the Council have also insisted on stepping up efforts to restore ecosystems, as expressed in the Council conclusions of December 2019 13 and a European Parliament resolution in January 2020 14 . The Parliament resolution called on the Commission to ‘move away from voluntary commitments and to propose an ambitious and inclusive Strategy that sets legally (and, consequently, enforceable) binding targets for the EU and its Member States’. In its resolution of 9 June 2021 15 , the European Parliament strongly welcomed the Commission’s commitment to draw up a legislative proposal on nature restoration, including on binding restoration targets.
Restoring ecosystems is also high on the international agenda. The 2050 vision under the Convention on Biological Diversity 16 , the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) 17 , the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development (the Sustainable Development Goals) 18 and the UN Decade for Restoration 19 all call for protecting and restoring ecosystems. Restoration will also be necessary for the EU to meet its commitments under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, and the Paris Agreement 20 . Ecosystems such as peatlands, wetlands, oceans and forests can – if in good condition – remove and store large amounts of carbon dioxide and also contribute significantly to reducing the impact of climate change.
The proposal for a regulation on nature restoration sets out an overarching objective: to contribute to the continuous, long-term and sustained recovery of biodiverse and resilient nature across the EU’s land and sea areas by restoring ecosystems and to contribute to achieving Union climate mitigation and climate adaptation objectives and meet its international commitments.
To achieve this objective, the proposal sets multiple binding restoration targets and obligations across a broad range of ecosystems. These measures should cover at least 20% of the EU’s land and sea areas by 2030 and all ecosystems in need of restoration by 2050. The proposal is further supported by an implementation framework to translate the objectives into action, by preparing and carrying out national restoration plans.
The proposal aims to enable the EU to act with urgency and to start restoring ecosystems based on binding targets and obligations that can already be measured and monitored. This will ensure that Member States can start restoration work without delay. More ecosystems can be included at later stages by developing joint methods to set further targets by amending the regulation.
The proposal thus paves the way for a broad range of ecosystems in the EU to be restored and maintained by 2050, with measurable results by 2030 and 2040. It enables the EU to contribute to halting biodiversity loss and bringing nature back to good health. It also enables the EU to demonstrate global leadership on protecting nature, in particular at the Conference of the Parties on the Convention on Biological Diversity to be held later in 2022.
• Consistency with existing policy provisions in the policy area
The proposal aims to complement existing environmental policy. It is designed to work effectively in synergy with EU environmental law. The proposal will also give impetus to the improved coordination and implementation of these laws.
Contents
Birds 21 and Habitats Directives 22 by setting deadlines to meet targets and requiring Member States to restore ecosystems also outside the Natura 2000 network;
the Water Framework Directive 23 by specifying additional restoration requirements for river continuity and to ensure good conditions of floodplains;
the Marine Strategy Framework Directive 24 with specific measures and detailed targets for specific marine habitats needing restoration;
the Invasive Alien Species Regulation 25 .
It will also work closely at a detailed level with the common fisheries policy, and will ensure coherence and complementarity where relevant.
The proposal has direct links with and contributes to the New EU forest strategy for 2030 26 with restoration measures that will improve forest biodiversity and resilience, due to specific targets and obligations for forest habitats.
As regards the common agricultural policy, the proposal builds on specific targets for grassland habitats that fall within the scope of Directive 92/43/EEC, and more broadly across EU agro-ecosystems based on evidence of improvement of a set of indicators that enhance biodiversity. The proposal has clear links with the EU soil strategy because many terrestrial ecosystems depend on and interact with the underlying soils. Any other soil-related targets will be integrated into future legislation governing soils.
Furthermore, the proposed objective to reverse pollinator decline will help reach the objectives of the EU pollinator initiative 27 . Targets in the proposal to increase green spaces in urban areas will have a direct bearing on the green infrastructure strategy 28 .
Policy measures under other environmental strategies, such as the circular economy action plan for a cleaner and more competitive Europe 29 and the zero pollution action plan for air, water and soil 30 , will help relieve pressure on ecosystems by reducing various forms of pollutants. Measures such as the Council Recommendation on learning for the green transition and sustainable development (to be adopted by the Council on 16 June 2022) 31 , can contribute to creating the necessary knowledge, skills and attitudes regarding environmental sustainability, including in support of nature restoration.
Consistency with other Union policies
Restoring ecosystems and enhancing biodiversity is a cornerstone of the European Green Deal. Ensuring healthy ecosystems and tackling climate change are intrinsically linked. Global warming has a direct impact on ecosystems with long-lasting or irreversible effects, such as the loss of ecosystems. EU climate policies such as the European Climate Law 32 , the proposals included in the Fit for 55 package (in particular the proposal for a Land Use, Land Use Change and Forestry Regulation 33 ) emphasise the crucial importance of natural sinks to capture and store carbon. To do this effectively, ecosystems such as wetlands and forests need to be in good condition. Therefore, this regulation can be expected to contribute considerably to climate policies.
Restoring ecosystems to good condition means providing nature-based solutions that help both mitigate climate change and pursue the objectives of the EU strategy on adaptation to climate change 34 . More biodiverse and healthy ecosystems are more resilient to climate change and are also effective in preventing disasters and reducing their risks. Under the European Climate Law, Member States will adopt and implement national adaptation strategies promoting nature-based solutions and ecosystem-based adaptation. The national restoration plans under this proposal will work closely together with the national adaptation strategies under the European Climate Law, and the EU civil protection legislation 35 . These will be mutually reinforcing.
Agriculture, forestry and fisheries are all sectors that depend on ecosystems in good condition. Agro-ecosystems in good condition provide safe, sustainable, nutritious and affordable food. They make agriculture more resilient to climate change and environmental risks, while also creating jobs (for example in organic farming, rural tourism and recreation). Forest ecosystems in good condition provide many benefits. For instance, they provide timber and food, they capture and store carbon, stabilise the soil, purify air and water, and reduce the impact of natural disasters such as wildfires and pest diseases. Keeping marine ecosystems in good condition helps biodiversity significantly by providing important fish spawning and nursery areas, and healthy food from the seas and oceans. Healthy marine ecosystems also mitigate climate change by reducing the impact of natural disasters along coastlines.
Some of the targets and indicators set in this proposal aim to make action on biodiversity and action on other EU policies work better together. These policies include the new common agricultural policy (‘CAP’) 36 (with its rules to improve the environment in agriculture as well as funding opportunities that are available under the CAP strategic plans 2023-2027), the farm to fork strategy for a fair, healthy and environmentally-friendly food system 37 and the common fisheries policy. The proposal also links to EU regional policy, which can finance ecosystem restoration through the European Regional Development Fund 38 , and also Horizon Europe 39 , which supports investment in research and innovation on biodiversity and ecosystems.
The proposal can also help the EU demonstrate global leadership, mobilise the international community and take action to halt the loss of biodiversity worldwide. The Conference of the Parties (COP15) of the Convention on Biological Diversity is expected to conclude a new global biodiversity framework that includes ambitious restoration targets. The EU Biodiversity Strategy for 2030 is a blueprint to make this a reality in the EU and to show EU commitment at global level. The proposal will send a strong signal to the global community that the EU is taking its commitment seriously and aims to enshrine ecosystem restoration targets in law, and could serve as inspiration for other countries to adopt similar ambitious policies on nature restoration and protection of biodiversity.
2. LEGAL BASIS, SUBSIDIARITY AND PROPORTIONALITY
Legal basis
The legal basis for this proposal is Article 192(1) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union that sets out how Article 191 of the Treaty should be implemented. Article 191 of the Treaty provides the objectives of EU environmental policy:
–preserving, protecting and improving the quality of the environment;
–protecting human health;
–utilising natural resources prudently and rationally;
–promoting measures at international level to deal with regional or worldwide environmental problems, in particular to combat climate change.
Subsidiarity (for non-exclusive competence)
Action at EU level is justified because of the scale and transboundary nature of biodiversity loss and ecosystem degradation, its impact on the public, and the economic risks. EU-wide rules and obligations are necessary to significantly restore biodiversity and ecosystems. The lack of progress in the biodiversity strategy up to 2020 shows that voluntary commitments by the Member States are not enough to achieve the EU’s objectives for restoring ecosystems.
Large-scale coordinated action is needed to address biodiversity loss and degradation and to create economies of scale. For example, working at EU level is essential for the recovery of pollinators: it is a problem across the EU and cannot be solved if only a few Member States tackle it. EU action is also necessary given how mobile many terrestrial and marine species are.
Restoring one ecosystem helps other neighbouring or connected ecosystems and their biodiversity, since many species thrive in connected networks of ecosystems on a large geographical scale. EU action is also needed to complement existing legal requirements and help the EU achieve its objectives under other pieces of EU environmental and climate legislation.
Proportionality
The proposal complies with the proportionality principle because it does not go beyond what is necessary for achieving the objective of putting biodiversity in the EU on the path to recovery by 2030.
Setting legally binding targets and obligations for ecosystem restoration at EU level would bring consistency to the action needed across the EU to reach the overall objective. Monitoring and reporting on progress by the Commission will bring further benefits and more effective joint action by the EU and Member States.
In summary, the proposal sets an overarching goal and ecosystem-specific targets and obligations that are in keeping with the scope of the objectives. To ensure the EU reaches these objectives, the proposal lays down implementing measures, assessments and reviews.
Choice of the instrument
A legislative rather than a non-legislative approach is needed to ensure the long-term objective. The objectives of this proposal are best pursued through a regulation to ensure the laws are directly applicable. Member States are required to contribute to the long-term objective by putting in place national restoration plans that set out the restoration measures needed to meet ecosystem-specific targets and obligations. Since a regulation does not need to be turned into national law, it means restoration measures can start sooner on the ground compared to a directive.
A regulation describes the action to be taken by Member States more precisely and in more detail and so would frame the action to be taken by the Member States much more exactly, and hence it would bring more consistency and coherence across the EU. Unlike directives, regulations do not only indicate the goal to be achieved by the Member States but also identify more precisely the legal requirements and ways to achieve that goal.
3. RESULTS OF EX-POST EVALUATIONS, STAKEHOLDER CONSULTATIONS AND IMPACT ASSESSMENTS
Ex-post evaluations/fitness checks of existing legislation
The evaluation of the biodiversity strategy up to 2020 identified voluntary rather than legally binding targets as a reason why ecosystem restoration has failed. The subsequent lack of commitment and political priority are major barriers to allocating funding and resources to restoration work.
In addition, the Birds and Habitats Directives do not set deadlines for maintaining or restoring natural habitats and species to favourable conservation status. The Directives also lack specific requirements to restore ecosystems that lie outside the Natura 2000 network. To address these shortcomings, this proposal makes restoring certain species and habitats mandatory, inside and outside the Natura 2000 network, and with clear deadlines.
On the Marine Strategy Framework Directive, the 2020 report from the Commission on the Directive’s first implementation cycle 40 concluded that its broad goal has proven very difficult to achieve. The reasons are the lack of specific measures and the lack of sufficiently fine-grained monitoring of specific habitats or species, coupled with a lack of specific targets. The definition of restoration targets in this regulation will support the objectives of the Marine Strategy Framework Directive and its implementation.
The fitness check of the Water Framework Directive concluded that the difficulties found in its implementation are in part due to the fact the water body condition is affected by diffused pollution coming from surrounding habitats. The Water Framework Directive does not necessarily require Member States to remove barriers that may disrupt the natural connectivity of a river/lake system. However, many terrestrial ecosystems and several habitats and species protected by the Birds and Habitats Directives directly depend on aquatic ecosystems being in almost natural condition. This proposal complements the Water Framework Directive by drawing up restoration targets and other specific requirements for rivers and floodplains. Moreover, this proposal’s non-deterioration requirement matches the Directive’s existing requirement to take measures to prevent the deterioration of the status of all water bodies.
Stakeholder consultations
In line with the Better Regulation guidelines, this regulation and the accompanying impact assessment have been underpinned by an extensive consultation process. The Commission collected the views of a wide range of stakeholders, in particular representatives of Member States, environmental organisations, research institutes, agriculture and forest associations, and business representatives. Consultations were carried out as part of an open public consultation, in five stakeholder workshops and in meetings with stakeholders and Member States. The different views provided valuable information and insights that helped prepare the impact assessment and the proposal.
Inception impact assessment
The inception impact assessment for the proposed regulation was published on 4 November 2020. Stakeholders and the public were able to give feedback on the initiative until 2 December 2020. There were 132 responses, mainly from NGOs, business associations and organisations, environmental organisations and the public.
Public consultation
The Commission ran an online public consultation between 11 January and 5 April 2021 and received 111 842 replies. The consultation collected views on the main aspects and approach to preparing the Commission's proposal for binding restoration targets. The results show overwhelming support for legally binding restoration targets: 97% in favour of general EU restoration targets across all ecosystems, 96% for targets per ecosystem or habitat. This shows almost full support both for an overaching restoration goal and specific EU targets for ecosystems.
Stakeholder workshops
Five separate workshops were held with representatives of the Member State and the stakeholders from the end of 2020 through to September 2021. Policy options were discussed and views collected on restoration target options and how these targets should be implemented. The workshops considered potential social, economic and wider environmental impacts as well as preliminary findings of the impact assessment support study.
Collection and use of expertise
The proposal is based on the latest scientific evidence. The impact assessment accompanying this proposal is underpinned by a study prepared by a team of external experts. The team of experts worked in close consultation with the Commission throughout the different phases of the study. The Commission also used many other sources of information to prepare this proposal, in particular the results of EU research and innovation projects and recognised international reports (such as those cited in Section 1).
The European Environment Agency and the Joint Research Centre provided specific expertise and were closely involved in developing this legal proposal and its impact assessment. For example, the Agency developed information on restoration needs based on official data reported by Member States under Article 17 of the Habitats Directive.
Impact assessment
The proposal is based on an impact assessment. After having resolved the issues raised in the Regulatory Scrutiny Board’s negative opinion issued on 16 July 2021, the impact assessment received a positive opinion (with reservations that were taken into account) on 28 October 2021.
Baseline scenario: this policy option assumes the realistic implementation of policies in the European Green Deal and EU Biodiversity Strategy for 2030 and other relevant existing polices – with the exception of the legally binding restoration targets.
Setting an overarching legally binding target for ecosystem restoration: this option sets a clearly defined overarching legally binding target to restore ecosystems. This target is defined as: by 2050, a percentage of ecosystems in the EU are restored to and maintained in good condition. It also sets legally binding milestones for 2030 and 2040.
Setting legally binding ecosystem-specific targets: this option sets targets and obligations for multiple ecosystems, habitats and groups of species that should be restored by 2030, 2040 and 2050. Targets and obligations are established for each of the EU’s main ecosystem types and would be directly applicable at Member State level.
Legally binding ecosystem-specific targets with an overarching objective: this option is a hybrid of the ecosystem-specific targets of option 3 and a variation of option 2, namely an overarching objective ‘to contribute to the continuous, long-term and sustained recovery of biodiverse and resilient nature across the Union’s land and sea areas through the restoration of ecosystems, and that the restoration measures together shall cover, by 2030, at least 20 % of the Union’s land and sea areas and, by 2050, all ecosystems in need of restoration. This provides an overarching objective that the EU should strive towards, coupled with a set of ecosystem-specific targets and obligations for Member States.
Option 4 was considered to be the best policy option as it is the most effective, efficient and policy coherent option. Having an overarching objective makes the specific targets more achievable, and the risk of not acting at all is the lowest out of all the options. In addition, the option reduces the risks of delaying action across all ecosystem types, by taking as much action possible now, where it is possible. This reduces the risk of postponing action, which would harm the environment, the economy and society.
Therefore, the preferred option allows the EU to act with urgency and start restoring ecosystems based on targets that can already be measured and monitored. In the future, once common methods are developed for assessing the good condition of the EU’s ecosystems, additional targets based on these common methods may be set by amending the regulation.
This preferred option for the legal proposal will ensure the EU can reach its objectives of ecosystem restoration in the time proposed and in a cost-efficient manner. The benefits outweigh the costs for each of the main ecosystem types. For example, for inland and coastal wetlands it is estimated that the monetised benefits from carbon storage alone already exceed the estimated costs of ecosystem restoration. If estimates of other ecosystem services are included then the benefit-cost ratio is even higher. Overall, the benefits of restoring Annex I peatlands, marshlands, forests, heathland and scrub, grasslands, rivers, lakes and alluvial habitats, and coastal wetlands can be estimated as being in the order of EUR 1 860 billion (with costs estimated in the order of EUR 154 billion).
Significant benefits are also estimated for marine and urban ecosystems, forests, agro-ecosystems and for pollinator restoration. For example, the value of crop pollination by insects was estimated of the order of EUR 5 billion per year in the EU. Beyond that, there are many other benefits, including the biological control of pests and the overall improvement of biodiversity.
Based on the assessment of environmental, social and economic impacts it can be deduced that certain stakeholder groups may be initially impacted more than others. The regulation therefore requires that Member States, as part of their national restoration plans, to ensure public participation and define how the needs of local communities and stakeholders will be considered.
Resources sought by Member States to reach their restoration objectives can come from EU sources, national funding and private sources. The impact on Member States’ budget will depend on the restoration needs and on the implementation of the associated restoration measures. These costs can be reduced by obtaining funding from EU or private sources. For example, a broad range of EU funds are available for restoration and the Taxonomy Regulation 41 is expected to facilitate greater use of private funds. Resources will also be needed to develop national restoration plans, including consultation phases and monitoring.
On reporting, the proposal minimises the administrative burden by making full use of existing reporting requirements and the potential to digitalise these processes. Furthermore, efficiency and cost reduction can be significantly improved by maximising the use of new technologies such as remote sensing, Copernicus satellite services and products, geographic information systems, in situ sensors and devices, data analysis and processing, and artificial intelligence. These technologies increase the speed, effectiveness and coherence of multiple monitoring and reporting processes.
The proposal deviates slightly from option 4 as some potential targets for soil will be covered at a later stage in separate legislation, as announced in the EU soil strategy.
Regulatory fitness and simplification
In line with the Commission’s commitment to better regulation, the proposal has been prepared inclusively, based on transparency and continuous engagement with stakeholders. In line with the ‘one in, one out’ approach, the administrative impacts have been analysed. The administrative costs will be mainly for the EU and public administrations in Member States. This would include costs for surveying ecosystems, developing national restoration plans, administration and monitoring of ecosystems chosen for restoration, and reporting. In the impact assessment, such administrative costs were estimated to be of the order of EUR 14 billion up to 2050.
Fundamental rights
The proposal respects the fundamental rights and in particular observes the principles recognised by the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union. It contributes to the right to a high level of environmental protection and to improving the quality of the environment in line with the principle of sustainable development laid down in Article 37 of the Charter.
4. BUDGETARY IMPLICATIONS
Implementation of the proposal will require human resources in the Commission, as specified in the attached legislative financial statement. The human resource implications for the Commission are expected to be implemented under its existing allocations.
Implementation will also require support from the European Environment Agency for which additional resources will be needed, as outlined in the financial statement.
This proposal includes articles that give details of further work that will be needed to implement the regulation, including an empowerment to adopt delegated or implementing acts (for example, to develop a uniform format for national restoration plans or to revise the annexes).
The financial statement included in this proposal shows the detailed budgetary implications and the human and administrative resources required.
5. OTHER ELEMENTS
Implementation plans and monitoring, evaluation and reporting arrangements
–information provided by Member States on their progress in meeting the targets and obligations set out in the proposal;
–implementation of restoration measures set out in Member States’ national restoration plans;
–trends in restored areas.
The Commission will draw up progress reports based on the information from Member States as well as other data collected by the Commission (e.g. from Copernicus satellite services).
Application of the regulation will be reviewed by 2035 to ensure that its objectives are being met and it is having the intended impact.
The regulation will be amended when necessary, for example to introduce additional legally binding restoration targets for ecosystems based on new methods to assess the condition of such ecosystems.
Detailed explanation of the specific provisions of the proposal
The overarching objective is described in Article 1: to contribute to the continuous, long-term and sustained recovery of biodiverse and resilient nature across the EU’s land and sea areas through the restoration of ecosystems. This establishes a framework in which Member States will put in place restoration measures which together shall cover at least 20% of the EU’s land and sea areas by 2030 and all ecosystems in need of restoration by 2050. This builds on the headline ambition set out in the biodiversity strategy that by 2050 all ecosystems are restored, resilient and adequately protected, and that, as a milestone, Europe's biodiversity is on the path to recovery by 2030. It is recognised that restoring nature will significantly contribute to the EU’s climate mitigation and adaptation objectives, to prevent and mitigate the impact of natural disasters, and to the EU’s international commitments.
The approach used for the framework described in Article 1 is to first build on the habitat types protected under the Habitats Directive for which there are already methods to ascertain good condition. Restoration targets can therefore be set for those habitats on the basis of those methods.
Article 4 sets out restoration targets for terrestrial, coastal and freshwater ecosystems, and Article 5 sets out restoration targets for marine ecosystems (which includes other marine areas in addition to those covered by the Habitats Directive). Those targets address restoration and re-establishment of areas, as well as the restoration of habitats of species. Restoration goes hand in hand with protection and maintenance, and so an obligation is set out in both Article 4 and 5 to ensure that the condition of ecosystems does not deteriorate before or after restoration.
For habitat types or ecosystems that are not covered by the Habitats Directive, good condition is not yet defined. However, further specific targets and obligations that will require additional restoration measures are laid down in Articles 6 to 10.
Article 6 sets targets for ensuring no net loss, and the increase of green urban spaces in cities, towns and suburbs. Providing a minimum level of tree cover and providing green spaces are integrated into new and existing buildings and infrastructure developments contribute to these targets. Green spaces and tree cover are essential elements of urban green infrastructure, and they benefit people living in cities, towns and suburbs in ecological, social and economic ways.
Article 7 sets obligations to remove river barriers. This will contribute to the natural longitudinal and lateral connectivity of rivers and the EU’s objective to have 25 000 km of free-flowing rivers. It will also help restore river areas and floodplains.
Article 8 sets the obligation to reverse the decline of pollinators and to achieve an increasing trend of pollinator populations until satisfactory levels are reached. This will be based on a method for monitoring pollinators that will be established.
To improve biodiversity of agro-ecosystems and forest ecosystems, Articles 9 and 10 set obligations for individual Member States to achieve an increasing trend for a set of indicators that are particularly important for the biodiversity of those ecosystems.
The restoration targets and obligations set out in Articles 6 to 10 complement the targets set out in Article 4 and 5, and they will therefore also have an effect on areas covered by the habitat types protected under the Habitats Directive.
Articles 11 and 12 describe the requirements for Member States’ national restoration plans. Restoration measures should be planned strategically so that they are as effective as possible in contributing to the recovery of nature across the EU and to climate change mitigation and adaptation. It is important that Member States prepare their national restoration plans based on the best and most recent scientific evidence available.
Articles 13, 14 and 15 specify that Member States must submit their national restoration plans to the Commission for assessment and that they will have to respond to the Commission’s observations before adopting the plans. A process for review and regular revision of the national restoration plans is also described.
Articles 17 and 18 contains monitoring and reporting requirements.
Article 19 contains provisions to amend the annexes to the regulation.
Articles 20 and 21 set out the conditions for the Commission to adopt delegated and implementing acts.
Article 22 provides for a review of the regulation by 31 December 2035.
Article 23 provides for the entry into force and application of the regulation.