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Knowledge Centre for Biodiversity

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  • Page | Last updated: 08 Nov 2021
Restore Ecosystems

To put biodiversity on the path to recovery by 2030, the EU is committed to step up the restoration of Nature by developing an ambitious EU Nature Restoration Plan.

Biodiversity

Overview

To put biodiversity on the path to recovery by 2030, the EU is committed to step up the restoration of Nature by developing an ambitious EU Nature Restoration Plan.

The key commitments by 2030 of this EU Nature Restoration Plan are the following :

  1. Legally binding EU nature restoration targets to be proposed in 2021, subject to an impact assessment. By 2030, significant areas of degraded and carbon-rich ecosystems are restored; habitats and species show no deterioration in conservation trends and status; and at least 30% reach favourable conservation status or at least show a positive trend.
  2. The decline in pollinators is reversed.
  3. The risk and use of chemical pesticides is reduced by 50% and the use of more hazardous pesticides is reduced by 50%.
  4. At least 10% of agricultural area is under high-diversity landscape features.
  5. At least 25% of agricultural land is under organic farming management, and the uptake of agro-ecological practices is significantly increased.
  6. Three billion new trees are planted in the EU, in full respect of ecological principles.
  7. Significant progress has been made in the remediation of contaminated soil sites.
  8. At least 25,000 km of free-flowing rivers are restored.
  9. There is a 50% reduction in the number of Red List species threatened by invasive alien species.
  10. The losses of nutrients from fertilisers are reduced by 50%, resulting in the reduction ofthe use of fertilisers by at least 20%.
  11. Cities with at least 20,000 inhabitants have an ambitious Urban Greening Plan.
  12. No chemical pesticides are used in sensitive areas such as EU urban green areas.
  13. The negative impacts on sensitive species and habitats, including on the seabed through fishing and extraction activities, are substantially reduced to achieve good environmental status.
  14. The by-catch of species is eliminated or reduced to a level that allows species recovery and conservation.

 

Actions

To reach these commitments, the European Commission has planned the key following actions :

Restore Ecosystems - actions
Key actions to be taken by the Commission Indicative timetable
Assessment of the EU and global biomass supply and demand and related sustainability ongoing
Measures to ensure that Member States’ CAP Strategic Plans set explicit national values for relevant targets of the Biodiversity and Farm to Fork Strategies, supported, inter alia, by CAP instruments and implementation of the Habitats Directive as of 2020
Further develop the Forest Information System for Europe as of 2020
Guidance on the selection of species and habitats to ensure that at least 30% of protected species and habitats not currently in favourable status are in that category by 2030, or show a strong positive trend 2020
Review and possible revision of the EU Pollinators initiative 2020
Action Plan for Organic Farming for 2021-2026 2020
Study on the sustainability of the use of forest biomass for energy production 2020
Proposal for EU nature restoration targets 2021
Revision of the Thematic Strategy for Soil Protection 2021
New EU Forest Strategy including a roadmap for planting at least 3 billion additional trees in the EU by 2030 2021
Guidelines on biodiversity-friendly afforestation and reforestation and closer-to-nature-forestry practices 2021
Operational guidance on the new sustainability criteria on forest biomass for energy 2021
Review of the data on biofuels with high indirect land-use change risk and setting up of a trajectory for their gradual phase out by 2030 2021
New action plan to conserve fisheries resources and protect marine ecosystems 2021
Guidance and support to Member States to identify sites and help mobilise funding for the restoration of 25,000 km of free-flowing rivers 2021
Set up the EU Urban Greening Platform under a new ‘Green City Accord’ with cities and mayors 2021
Technical guidance on urban greening and assistance to mobilise funding and capacity building for Member States, local and regional authorities, including for the development of Urban Greening Plans 2021
Revision of the Sustainable Use of Pesticides Directive and enhance Integrated Pest Management provisions 2022
Integrated Nutrient Management Action Plan 2022
Technical guidance to Member States on their measures to review water abstraction and impoundment permits and to restore ecological flows in the revised River Basin Management Plans 2023

 

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Restore Ecosystems

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