Forests, foresters and the climate set to benefit as Nature Restoration Law clears final hurdle
21 juin 2024
It has provoked fierce debate, and the final decision went to the wire, but by the slimmest of margins, on 17 June 2024 EU Environment Ministers threw a lifeline to the continent’s besieged forests and approved the Nature Restoration Law (NRL).
Passing the first comprehensive, continent-wide regulation of its kind is a defining moment in the fight to increase biodiversity and rehabilitate the continent’s damaged natural habitats.
Under the NRL, Member States will have to restore at least 20% of the EU’s land and sea by 2030. The need to do so could hardly be more urgent, as research published this month by the World Resources Institute, makes abundantly clear.
And yet, the road to the NRL’s passing has been tortuous, with many twists and turns.
In February, the European Parliament voted to support the Council and Parliament approved version of the Regulation. Those committed to tackling the precarious state of Europe’s biodiversity celebrated… until Hungary changed its mind, seemingly as part of its anti-EU stance and as a response to agricultural industry lobbying.
This tilted the balance so that Member States who opposed the law now had the power to block it. The following months were nail-biting until this final meeting of Environment ministers under the Belgian EU Presidency. Incredibly, the decisive vote came from the Austrian Environment Minister, who swung her support back in favour of the landmark law, leading Austrian conservatives to charge her with abuse of office.
The finally approved Regulation sets targets and criteria to restore different ecosystems throughout the land and waters of the EU and asks Member States to come up with plans to achieve this. Although many of the targets and criteria have been watered down in politicised discussions, it could still have a profound impact (FW 293).
But what does it mean for European forests?
Depending on the type, forests which are earmarked for Natura 2000 protection will need to meet the detailed and specific criteria outlined in Habitat Directive annex. Other forests will need to meet more general indicators, including the amount of standing and lying deadwood, the stock of carbon they contain, the birds they are home to, connectivity, tree species diversity, the share of native tree species and whether they are of uneven-age structure.
The NRL is a clear mandate for increased continuous cover forest management, as destructive business as usual rotation forestry will not deliver the Regulation’s targets. Countries’ national plans will need to include measures to support foresters in this transition. The easiest way would be to scrap harmful subsidies and use freed-up resources to support the transition through training and finance.
Doing so will not only benefit biodiversity. Diverse forests are also more resilient and better allies in the climate crisis, providing more stable livelihoods and more places for people to relax.
Catégories: News, Forest Watch, Close-to-nature forestry, European forests
