Our Mediterranean ecosystems’ health is in danger. Time to restore it!
Despite EU and international efforts, biodiversity loss and ecosystem degradation continue at an alarming rate, significantly impacting societies, economies, and climate. Only 15% of European habitats are in “good” condition, with wetlands, rivers, forests, dunes, and coastal ecosystems being in a worrying shape.
Aiming to face this challenge, EU recently established the Nature Restoration Law that sets out an overarching objective: “to contribute to the continuous, long-term and sustained recovery of biodiverse and resilient nature across the EU’s land and sea areas by restoring ecosystems and to contribute to achieving Union climate mitigation and climate adaptation objectives and meet its international commitments”.
Following a series of long negotiations, the European Parliament adopted the EU Regulation on Nature Restoration on 27 February 2024. The Law includes the agreement for restoring at least 20% of the EU’s land and sea areas by 2030.
EU countries are expected to submit National Restoration Plans to the Commission within two years after the Regulation comes into force, showing how they will deliver on the targets. They will also be required to monitor and report on their progress.
The European public sector will be at the center of the planning and implementation of this restoration for the decades to come. The practitioners that will undertake the task to design Action Plans and implement the new regulations in the different member states (e.g., employees in national, regional, and municipal agencies or regulators) often need updated knowledge and skills to adapt the new instruments to current practices in environmental protection and restoration, as well as to mainstream successful technical solutions in the strategies to be developed. In addition, persons involved in restoration projects such as people working on NGOs, consultants, etc. need this knowledge.
The recent adoption of the EU Nature Restoration Law is conceived as an opportunity for the Natural Heritage Mission to get involved into the implementation of this regulation at National, Regional and Local Level. The intervention of the Natural Heritage Mission at the very beginning of this process will provide a working field with stakeholders for a long-time horizon, enabling the sharing of knowledge on different thematic areas linked to restoration in practice, but also provide space for policy advocacy.
In this context, the Natural Heritage Mission organizes its first summer school, starting from the new EU Restoration Law and offering to professionals from the Euro-MED areas all the necessary tools and knowledge to work on real ecosystem restoration cases.
The Summer School entitled “OUR MEDITERRANEAN ECOSYSTEMS’ HEALTH IS IN DANGER. TIME TO RESTORE IT!” will take place between 18-20 June 2024 in Piran, Slovenia.
Check here for more details.
