Negotiators from the EU Parliament, the European Commissions and the EU Council have reached an agreement about the details to be included in the long-awaited, but highly controversial, EU Nature Restoration Law.
The law will set legally binding targets and requirements for rewetting peatlands.
It will also include legal obligations to bring ecosystems back into good condition and restore nature across multiple habitats, including rivers, farmland, forests, uplands, coastal and marine areas, as well as in towns and cities.
The agreement means that every EU country must have restoration measures in place covering 20% of EU land and sea areas by 2030.
There is also a specific obligation to restore 30% of drained peatlands currently being used for agriculture by 2030, with at least a quarter of this land to be rewetted.
This percentage target for the restoration of peatlands will be increased to 40% by 2040 and 50% by 2050, with at least one third of it to be rewetted by those dates.
The agreement makes it clear that the rewetting of peatland will remain voluntary for farmers.
Nevertheless, the Irish Farmers' Association said that even though these proposed rewetting targets have been significantly reduced, their inclusion in the agreement is a very disappointing and worrying development that will impact on farm families, particularly those farming on drained peatland.
IFA Environment Chairman Paul O’Brien said the proposed law will impact on agricultural production in Ireland.
He said the commitment to restore 90% of habitat types by 2050 and the requirement to show continuous improvement in the quality of habitats shows the scale of the impact and challenge for farmers and the rural community.
Environmentalists however had argued that the proposed nature restoration law was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to restore degraded habitats in Ireland.
Currently, 85% of EU protected and internationally important habitats have unfavourable status and are in poor condition.
This means they are not fully capable providing nature-based services such as carbon sequestration by peatlands, or the protection of properties from storm surges by coastal dune systems.
They also point to the importance of nature restoration for the provision of drinking water, for bathing and recreation, as well as its vital importance for biodiversity, fish, invertebrates and all other animals and birds.
This political agreement reached at EU level about the Nature Restoration Law must first now be endorsed by member states.
It will then have to undergo a crucial vote by the EU Parliament’s Committee later this year before a final EU parliament vote expected to take place in December 2024.
What is the Nature Restoration Law?
· The proposed EU Nature Restoration Law is a draft regulation that is currently being negotiated in the EU Council and Parliament. It is EU-wide move to reverse decades of decline in biodiversity and bring ecosystems back into good condition.
· It is an essential element of the EU Green Deal and the EU Biodiversity Strategy to 2030.
· It will set legally binding targets for the restoration of nature across multiple habitats, including rivers, farmland, forests, uplands, coastal and marine areas, as well as our towns and cities.
· It will also provide for the development of a National Restoration Plan within two years of the regulation's adoption.
· It includes ambitious goals for wild birds, bees, butterflies, free-flowing rivers, woodlands and oceans, with valuable co-benefits for climate and water.
· Towns and cities will also benefit in the draft regulation through provisions for green space, linking up wild places and planting native trees.
· It brings the potential to drive significant economic stimulus in rural areas through the creation of skilled jobs and the deployment of incentives for landowners that will benefit the wider rural economy and communities.
· It also has the potential to support climate action goals by reducing carbon emissions from the land use sector, increasing carbon sequestration and improving climate adaptation and resilience through the enhancement of natural buffers against flooding and coastal inundation.
· It can improve water quality and enhance ecological health of our rivers, lakes and coastal areas, as well as benefitting people’s health and well-being.
· The return on investment in nature restoration has been estimated by the European Commission as €8 to €38 for every €1 invested.
· Ireland’s position is being coordinated by the National Parks and Wildlife Service of the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage on an all-of-Government basis.
What new binding targets are included in the proposed law?
· Restore habitats and species protected by the EU nature legislation.
· Reverse the decline of pollinators by 2030.
· No net loss of green urban spaces by 2030 and a minimum of 10% tree canopy cover in European cities.
· Improved biodiversity on farmland e.g. for grassland butterflies, farmland birds, high-diversity landscape features.
· Restore drained peatlands.
· Healthier forests with improved biodiversity.
· At least 25,000 km of free-flowing rivers by 2030.
· Restore seagrasses and sea bottoms.
What is rewetting?
· Rewetting is only one aspect of the Nature Restoration Law. It means raising the level of the water table on peaty soils that were previously drained for agricultural use, i.e. the level under the surface at which the soil is permanently wet. In most cases, grazing and farming of land can continue.
· The purpose of rewetting is to allow peatlands function more in tune with their natural processes, and to allow native plants and wildlife to return. For example, cranes have returned to restored to rewetted Bord na Móna bogs in the midlands. Instead of leaking carbon into the atmosphere, bogs when allowed to stay, wet act as a store.
· The European Commission has proposed rewetting 25,000 hectares by 2030, rising to 116,500 hectares by 2050. However, significant caveats have been proposed, which mean that an awful lot of the heavy lifting can be done on public land.
· The commission’s proposal provides that the targets can be achieved across a range of areas, such as former Bord na Móna bogs and Coillte forestry.
· This means that the 2030 targets could be met using public land alone, while only about an eighth of the 2050 target would need to involve private land.
