Restoring European Ecosystems
On February 27, 2024, the European Union (EU) parliament passed a new law on restoring natural habitats and ecosystems. It will have to be approved by EU member states.
The law is not universally accepted. The vote was 329 to 275, with 24 abstentions. There have been demonstrations by farmers concerned about the impacts on farming due to environmental protections. This is a legitimate part of the process that needs to be addressed for these kinds of efforts to succeed, and it will be important to have safeguards for our food systems and for those stakeholders who will be hurt by such environmental efforts. Of course, there are also business, political and other special interests that oppose the law.
“[The new law] aims to restore at least 20% of the EU’s land and sea areas by 2030. Within this wider goal, countries need to restore 30% of habitats covered by the new law (including forests, rivers and wetlands) that are already degraded by 2030. This increases to 60% by 2040 and at least 90% by 2050.
“Sabien Leemans, a senior biodiversity policy officer at WWF EU, says the law is a “very big opportunity” for nature – and a rare one in terms of EU policy.”