Over 60 forest NGOs call on MEPs to support an ambitious Nature Restoration Law

The natural world is our life support system, providing us with everything we need to live. Half of the world's economy relies on the environment. However, we have caused a lot of damage to Europe's and the planet's biodiversity through our industries and the way we use resources.

If we don't fix the problem and restore our damaged lands and seas, we will lose the benefits that nature gives us for free. That's why all the countries in the world, including members of the European Union (EU), agreed in 2022 to restore at least 30% of the habitats that have been damaged by 2030. They made this agreement under the Global Biodiversity Framework of the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity.

In 2022, the European Commission proposed a new law to restore habitats in Europe. They want to make all kinds of environments resilient, like forests, farms, oceans, rivers, and cities. For forests, which cover 40% of EU lands, the law represents a huge opportunity to protect biodiversity, support less intensive economic activities, and lessen climate change impacts like droughts and wildfires. 

If the EU wants nature to keep supporting healthy food production, green jobs, the fight against climate change, and the transformation to a sustainable economy, it needs to approve and put into action a strong Nature Restoration Law.

The following 66 NGOs support the call for an ambitious law:

• ARA
• Autoren Pieper und Partner
• BankTrack
• BirdLife Sverige
• Both ENDS
• Bruno Manser Fonds
• Canopée
• CEEweb for Biodiversity
• Civic Response
• ClientEarth
• Comité Schone Lucht
• Denkhausbremen
• Department of Women's and Gender Studies, Rutgers University
• Deutsche Umwelthilfe e.V.
• Earthsight
• ECOLISE - European association for community-led initiatives on climate change and sustainability
• ECOS
• Environmental Paper Network (EPN)
• Estonian Fund for Nature
• EuroNatur Foundation
• Fern
• Finnish Association For Nature Conservation
• Focus Association for Sustainable Development
• Forest Peoples Programme
• Forest Watch Indonesia
• Forests of the World
• Forum Ökologie & Papier
• France Nature Environnement
• Fundacja Inicjatyw Rozwojowych i Edukacyjnych, Nowoberezowo
• Fundacja Zielone Światło
• Global Forest Coalition
• Hnutí DUHA - Friends of the Earth Czech Republic
• Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy
• Irish Environmental Network
• Jikalahari
• Lasy i Obywatele
• Latvian Ornithological Society
• Leefmilieu
• Luonto-Liitto ry
• MIO-ECSDE
• NABU Deutschland
• One Ring Warsaw - Zielony Pierścień Warszawy (grassroots initiative)
• Päästame Eesti Metsad (Save Estonia's Forests)
• Pieper & Partner
• Pro REGENWALD
• Protect the Forest Sweden
• Quercus - ANCN
• Rainforest Foundation Norway
• Rainforest Action Network (RAN)
• Ratujmy Las Mokrzański
• Regenwald-Institut e.V.
• ROBIN WOOD
• Rodzice dla Klimatu
• Stowarzyszenie M.O.S.T.
• Stowarzyszenie MULTIFORM
• Stowarzyszenie Partnerstwo Dzikie Mazury
• Stowarzyszenie Pracownia na rzecz Wszystkich Istot
• Südwind
• The Finnish Nature Association
• Ukrainian Nature Conservation Group
• Wild Europe Foundation
• Wild Poland Foundation
• Wspólny Las
• WWF Germany

Catégories: NGO Statements, European forests