NATURE RESTORATION LAW

01.03.2024

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Why in the news? 

The European Parliament recently adopted the first European Union (EU) law to restore degraded ecosystems across the 27-nation political and economic bloc.

Key provisions of the law

• The law sets a target for the EU to restore at least 20% of its land and sea areas by 2030, with a broader goal of restoring all ecosystems in need of restoration by 2050.
•  EU members are required to restore specific percentages of drained peatland, with targets set at 30% by 2030, 40% by 2040, and 50% by 2050.
• Biodiversity in Agricultural Ecosystems: To enhance biodiversity in agricultural ecosystems, EU countries must make progress in indicators such as the grassland butterfly index, the share of agricultural land with high-diversity landscape features, and the stock of organic carbon in cropland mineral soil. Measures to increase the common farmland bird index are also mandated.
• Suspension of Targets:The law allows for the suspension of targets for agricultural ecosystems under exceptional circumstances if they significantly impact the land required for sufficient food production for EU consumption.
• Forest Ecosystems: Positive trends in several indicators in forest ecosystems are required, along with a commitment to plant an additional three billion trees.
• River Restoration: EU nations are mandated to restore at least 25,000 km of rivers into free-flowing rivers.
• Urban Green Space: There should be no net loss in the total national area of urban green space and urban tree canopy cover.
• Adoption Process: The law, initially proposed by the European Commission in June 2022, went through a legislative process. It faced amendments and challenges before being approved by the European Parliament. It will now need to be adopted by the European Council before being published in the EU Official Journal and entering into force.

                                                           Source: Down to earth