La FACE - European Federation for Hunting and Conservation, welcomes the proposal for a new law on the restoration of nature, published today by the European Commission. This is a fundamental step to bring Nature back to all of Europe. It is important to note that this is the first legislative act ever that explicitly aims to restore European natural areas, to restore 80% of habitats in poor condition and to restore naturalness in all ecosystems, including forests, agricultural land. and freshwater ecosystems (link).
The proposal, which takes the form of a draft regulation, defines a number of key concepts and sets legally binding targets for the restoration of natural areas. This means that Member States will have to draw up their own National Restoration Plans and carry out the necessary work to identify the restoration measures needed to meet the objectives and obligations.
The law should build on existing experiences in nature restoration measures and should build on the good work done by European hunters, as indicated in the FACE Biodiversity Manifesto. It is important that Member States actively involve stakeholders in drafting restoration plans to ensure that plans are properly adapted to national circumstances.
From FACE's point of view, the law is expected to bring important benefits to small game in agricultural ecosystems. For example, targets have been set for an overall increase in biodiversity and a positive trend for grassland butterflies, farmland birds and highly diverse landscape features on farmland. For waterfowl, the restoration goals of wetlands, including peatlands and rivers, will also lead to important results.
Equally important for huntable and non-huntable species are the restoration measures, which must be put in place for the listed habitats of terrestrial, coastal and freshwater species, necessary to improve the quality and quantity of those habitats, including through their reconstitution, and to increase connectivity, until reaching a sufficient quality and quantity of these habitats.
National recovery plans must cover the period up to 2050 and must be reviewed at least every 10 years. The European Commission will evaluate the draft national restoration plans within six months from the date of receipt. The proposal also includes monitoring and reporting obligations for Member States.
Regarding objectives, the proposal lists a general objective and specific objectives for ecosystems, both of which are binding. The first foresees that by 2030, restoration measures will cover at least 20% of the land and marine areas of the EU and, by 2050, all ecosystems in need of restoration.
Commenting on today's news, Torbjörn Larsson, President of FACE, said: “We are evaluating the proposal in detail, but we can already see that it will bring important benefits to European Nature, which is a central demand of our European Hunters Campaign. The role of rural actors, including hunters, in translating the law into successful field initiatives cannot be underestimated. It is crucial to provide the right incentives to ensure that community-based conservation projects involving hunters and other stakeholders continue to develop in Europe. "