Nature Restoration Plan (EU 2024/1991)

What the EU Nature Restoration Regulation is

Regulation (EU) 2024/1991 on nature restoration, in force since August 2024, sets binding targets to restore degraded ecosystems across the European Union by 2030, 2040 and 2050. It is the first European legal instrument to impose quantified ecological restoration obligations on Member States, with an overall target of restoring at least 20% of the EU's land and sea areas by 2030.

The regulation requires Member States to draw up National Restoration Plans setting out concrete measures, timetables and intermediate targets for each type of habitat and ecosystem. In Spain, the transposition and development of these plans will directly affect project developers, landowners and companies operating in degraded natural environments.

Who it affects in practice

The regulation has direct practical implications for:

• Renewable energy developers whose projects affect degraded habitats or steppe land, and who may need to justify or contribute to restoration measures as a condition of the Environmental Impact Statement or as a compensatory measure.
• Local and regional authorities with land-management responsibilities, which must align their planning instruments with the objectives of the National Restoration Plan.
• Companies with ESG commitments or biodiversity strategies seeking to contribute voluntarily to restoration targets and to demonstrate this to lenders and investors.
• Forestry and agricultural landowners in priority restoration areas, who may be subject to restrictions or eligible for public funding incentives.

Which ecosystems it prioritises

The regulation sets specific targets for different types of ecosystem:

• Terrestrial habitats of Community interest listed in Annex I of the EU Habitats Directive, especially those degraded within the Natura 2000 network.
• Agricultural ecosystems, with targets to increase biodiversity on farmland and recover farmland bird populations.
• Forest ecosystems, with targets for connectivity, structural diversity and the presence of deadwood.
• Marine and coastal ecosystems, including seagrass meadows and coastal lagoons.
• Freshwater ecosystems, with targets to restore river connectivity by removing barriers.

How a restoration plan is prepared

An ecological restoration plan in the context of Regulation (EU) 2024/1991 should include:

1. Assessment of the conservation status of the habitats and ecosystems present in the area of action, through field inventory and comparative analysis against the reference state.
2. Definition of measurable, verifiable restoration objectives, aligned with the objectives of the regulation and of Spain's National Restoration Plan.
3. Design of restoration measures: revegetation with native species, removal of invasive species, hydrological restoration, creation of wildlife refuges.
4. Implementation schedule and estimated budget by phase.
5. Monitoring programme with recovery-status indicators and periodic reporting.

Common mistakes

The most frequent problems we find in restoration plans are:

• Generic measures (native-species plantings without specification of densities, provenances or establishment conditions) that do not justify habitat recovery.
• Absence of a defined reference state, which makes it impossible to verify whether the measures achieve the restoration objective.
• Objectives that are neither quantified nor linked to verifiable monitoring indicators.
• Failure to integrate the plan with the conditions of the Environmental Impact Statement or with compensatory measures already required, creating duplication or contradictions.

Why choose Ideas Medioambientales

We draft ecological restoration plans in the context of Regulation (EU) 2024/1991 and of environmental assessment procedures, with an in-house team of biologists and forestry engineers experienced in ecosystem restoration across Spain. We integrate the plan with the project's environmental documentation, the compensatory measures required by the Environmental Impact Statement and the organisation's biodiversity commitments.

Tell us the type of project and the environment affected and we will advise on the scope of restoration plan you need.