The European Parliament is poised to vote in the coming weeks on the final version of the Nature Restoration Law (LRN), a global regulation scrutinized for its potential to halt biodiversity loss across Europe. An international team of scientists led by the University of Duisburg-Essen in Germany, with two Spanish researchers joining, examined what the regulation could mean in practice.
The LRN requires EU member states to implement restoration measures on at least 20% of land and sea areas by 2030 and to restore all ecosystems identified as needing recovery by 2050. Specific targets include rewetting peatlands and boosting pollinator populations, among others.
Despite early bureaucratic hurdles, the path for the law has been cleared in many respects: it received approval from the European Parliament’s Environment Committee after discussions between Parliament and Council delegations on the final text.
The central question remains whether the LRN can deliver its stated goals. The study authors, who lead major European projects on nature restoration and biodiversity across terrestrial and marine environments, analyzed the data and drew lessons from past European directives and policies. They assessed the prospects for success and the obstacles that still lie ahead.
The report in Science notes that the new standard could become a cornerstone for Europe’s biodiversity recovery and the restoration of ecosystem services, signaling leadership as environmental challenges intensify.
political pressures
The draft law, described as the first in its kind globally, faced regulation under different political pressures. Scientists contributed extensively to the discussion, and the study’s lead author, Daniel Hering, from the University of Duisburg-Essen, says the LRN avoids several past obstacles and shows that the Commission has learned from earlier experiences.
Although the law lays out ambitious goals and clear implementation steps, the real measure of its success will be in how it is carried out at the national level. European countries must decide on concrete actions to reach the targets, many of which will be voluntary in nature, explains Josef Settele of UFZ in Halle, Germany.
A key takeaway from the authors is the importance of landowner cooperation in restoration efforts, with farmers playing a crucial role. They note that intensive agriculture remains a major driver of biodiversity loss across Europe.
Nevertheless, the researchers emphasize that agricultural interests and nature restoration can be aligned. Healthy soils, thriving pollinators, and greater water storage all support both farming and conservation goals, aligning with the LRN’s broader aims.
Ángel Borja of AZTI, a Basque technology center involved in the study, stresses that European seas will benefit from restoration efforts to help meet environmental status targets under the Marine Strategy Directive. He adds that restoring marine ecosystems will make the services they provide more useful for people.
Decarbonizing coastal protection
Coauthor Agustín Sánchez-Arcilla, director of the Marine Engineering Laboratory at UPC-BarcelonaTech, points out that restoration goals offer benefits to a broad range of users. He highlights a focus on coastal zones and decarbonizing coastal protection, noting that the approach benefits communities by supporting longer-term resilience.
This restoration effort is seen as aligning short-term coastal interventions with mid- and long-term protection objectives, reducing risks to both socioeconomic activities and natural systems, and enabling coordinated financing and adaptation plans. Decision-making could be guided by restoration targets.
The researchers argue that European funds should support the LRN’s goals, a point that warrants widespread discussion among scientists and practitioners who use and manage natural resources.
While the authors maintain a generally favorable view of the LRN, they acknowledge that ambitious national implementation and close cooperation with sectors such as agriculture and fisheries will determine restoration success across Europe.
LRN sits within the European Green Deal and aims to contribute meaningfully to EU climate targets and to the Kunming-Montreal biodiversity agreements, which call for restoring at least 30% of degraded ecosystems. With many habitats under stress, the LRN is regarded as a critical step in addressing these environmental challenges, according to the study authors.
Reference report: Science (doi reference provided in the study).
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Notes on implementation and monitoring emphasize that ongoing dialogue among scientists, policymakers, and land users will shape how restoration outcomes are realized on the ground.
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