From 18 August 2024, the Nature Restoration Regulation enters into force, setting targets that will encourage Member States to carry out extensive measures to restore natural and environmental assets, as well as to secure a sustainable and biologically diverse future for all citizens of the European Union (EU).

Minister for Smart Administration and Regional Development Inga Bērziņa: “Natural resources are limited, and preserving the diversity of nature for future generations will not be possible unless we act today. The Regulation places the existing species and habitat protection and management targets ‘in time and space’, along with a legal framework and new obligations for Member States. The targets and measures set out in the Regulation concern a very wide range of stakeholders and several fields – agriculture, forestry, climate change mitigation, urban planning and the environment. Consequently, effective and successful implementation of nature restoration measures will be possible if we change the current approach whereby nature is protected only within protected areas, and if institutions and stakeholders from various sectors cooperate actively.”

The aims and significance of the Regulation

The Nature Restoration Regulation is part of the European Green Deal and sets specific targets and measures for restoring degraded ecosystems and improving biodiversity.

The core principle of the Nature Restoration Regulation is to restore what is in poor condition and not to worsen what is in good condition, while taking into account the national circumstances of Member States. The Regulation provides for at least 20% of the EU's land and sea areas to be restored by 2030 (regardless of the extent of protected nature areas):

• Ecosystem restoration: to restore at least 20% of the EU's land and sea areas by 2030;
• Improving biodiversity: to promote a favourable conservation status for species and habitats;
• Urban green areas: to increase green spaces in cities in order to reduce the heat island effect and promote opportunities for recreation;
• Sustainable agriculture: to promote sustainable agricultural practices that will help to preserve and restore natural resources.

The Regulation incorporates conditions already laid down in other documents and also imposes certain obligations outside protected areas, but it does not provide for an increase in new protected areas.

National restoration plan

To ensure that nature restoration takes place in a purposeful and systematic manner, Latvia will have to draw up a national restoration plan setting out how the targets laid down in the Regulation will be achieved, including which nature restoration measures will be carried out, to what extent and where. All sectors and sectoral ministries will need to be involved in drawing up the national nature restoration plan. The plans must be drawn up within two years of the Regulation's entry into force – that is, by mid-2026 – setting out specific targets and tasks. For example, the Ministry of Smart Administration and Regional Development is preparing proposals on the restoration of bog and grassland habitats, which, according to the latest European Commission report on the status of habitats and species of EU importance, are the least protected habitats.
https://www.varam.gov.lv/lv/jaunums/stajas-speka-dabas-atjaunosanas-regula-ar-merki-veicinat-ekosistemu-atjaunosanu