- Regulation (EU) 2024/1991 entered into force on 18 August 2024 and sets restoration targets for the whole Union.
- It calls for measures on at least 20% of the EU’s land and sea areas by 2030 and on all ecosystems in need by 2050.
- It binds the Member States, which must present national plans; the burden on owners and companies will depend on how each country designs them.
On 18 August 2024 Regulation (EU) 2024/1991 on nature restoration entered into force, a rule that sets legally binding targets for recovering degraded ecosystems across the European Union. Being a regulation, it applies directly in the Member States, although it is they who must decide which specific measures to adopt and where. With its entry into force a development phase begins, in which what matters will be how it is applied in each country.
The general targets are that restoration measures cover at least 20% of the EU’s land and sea areas by 2030 and reach all ecosystems in need of restoration by 2050. There are also specific goals for wetlands, forests, grasslands, rivers and lakes, heath and scrub, rocky habitats, dunes, pollinators, and urban and marine ecosystems.
What States must do
Each country must draw up a national restoration plan, expected to be submitted to the Commission in September 2026, explaining how it will meet the targets, and monitor and report on progress. The goals include, for example, restoring at least 25,000 kilometres of rivers to a free-flowing condition by 2030, which implies removing artificial barriers that now interrupt their flow.
That structure means that, for now, the regulation imposes no direct obligations on any particular owner or company. Burdens, grants or limits on certain land uses will appear when each State, and presumably also the regional governments given their powers over the environment and land-use planning, spells out its plan. Until then, it is reasonable to treat it as a long-term guiding framework rather than an immediate requirement.
Farmland, land and projects
The farming sector is one of the most affected. The indicators foreseen for agricultural ecosystems include more grassland butterflies and farmland birds, higher organic carbon in cropland mineral soils, a larger share of farmland with high-diversity landscape features, and the restoration of drained peatlands used for agriculture.
Beyond the countryside, restoration can influence land-use planning, infrastructure planning and the environmental assessment of property, energy or industrial projects. In cities, the aim is to avoid a net loss of urban green space. National plans are likely to identify priority areas, which may affect the value and possible uses of certain land.
What to follow
Anyone who owns rural estates, farms or land with projects awaiting approval should follow the design of the Spanish plan and of those drawn up by the regions, and take part in public consultations when they open. That is the stage at which priority areas, support instruments and the criteria that authorities will apply will be defined. It is also worth distinguishing between restoration measures, which improve the state of an ecosystem, and protection or conservation measures, which already apply to many sites and do not disappear.
It is also worth checking whether feasibility studies and impact assessments for long-term projects take these targets into account, because the environmental criteria of the authorities will tend to align with them. And for those managing rural assets, it is worth remembering that these are measures designed with horizons of 2030 and 2050, not one year. Consult your adviser on how it may affect your land.
Nature enters planning as an objective with dates.
This article is general information. It is not legal, tax or investment advice, and it does not take anyone’s particular circumstances into account.
