In an Open Letter, more than 500 members of the scientific community and other citizens call on the Minister for the Environment and Energy for a National Nature Restoration Plan that does not leave the sea behind.
Nature is deteriorating. European legislation created over the last 50 years has not proved sufficient to halt its accelerated deterioration and thus protect species and natural habitats.
The urgency for action led to the approval, in 2024, of the Nature Restoration Regulation at the European Union level, a piece of legislation that established the first binding targets for the restoration of ecosystems, habitats and species.
This is a great achievement for nature and an opportunity for Member States, who now have two years to work on their proposals for national plans, which include clear targets, concrete ecological restoration measures and a plan for funding them.
Among other actions, by 2030 we will have to put in place effective restoration measures covering at least 20% of the European Union's land and sea areas. By 2050, measures must be in place for all ecosystems in need of restoration.
In the Open Letter now released, the scientific community stresses the importance of restoring marine ecosystems at national level, given that Portugal has one of the largest maritime areas in the world under national jurisdiction, where there is a worrying decline in biodiversity. Although fundamental information on the distribution and status of priority marine habitats is still lacking, it is known that up to 75% of marine habitats are now in an unfavorable state of conservation.
In addition to listing a number of actions that are considered priorities, the Open Letter also highlights the importance of the necessary research work that will make it possible to map, evaluate and quantify the marine areas to be restored, as well as demonstrate how the rights of coastal communities will be safeguarded.
Signed by several LPN academics and professionals, the Open Letter also calls for the preparation of the national nature restoration plan to be open to the scientific community and civil society since its initial planning phase, with a view to developing what is intended to be an effective, transparent, open, inclusive plan that allows for informed and timely public participation.
Get to know the Open Letter “For a national restoration plan that doesn't leave the sea behind” and help spread the word.
Where are we in this process?
In Portugal, 25th of October saw the publication of Order No. 12734/2024, which determines the process for drawing up the National Nature Restoration Plan. We are now looking forward to the publication of the regulations regarding the Working Group, the Monitoring Committee and the Knowledge Network for Nature Restoration, and to start working.
LPN is following the whole process together with several other national NGOs and hopes to be actively involved in the work to prepare the project of the Portuguese Nature Restoration Plan.
As well as following the work underway in other Member States, through the environmental NGO members of the European Environmental Bureau (EEB), at the national level LPN has been present at various fora to pass on information about the EU regulation, share what we consider to be priority courses of action at the national level and disseminate best practices on ecological restoration implemented by the LPN on the ground. On November 5th, LPN took part in the webinar “The application of the Nature Restoration Law in Portugal”, having been invited by the Confederation of Portuguese Farmers (CAP), and on 9th of November participated in the meeting “Nature Restoration” organized by the Portuguese Confederation of Environmental Defense Associations (CPADA) in Cinfães.
Furthermore, LPN is actively involved in a European Horizon project entitled “DiverSea” which seeks to develop methodologies and technologies to observe, monitor, map and predict marine biodiversity, which will increase knowledge and safeguard the health of coastal zones and the ocean.
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© 2018 Liga para a Protecção da Natureza.
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