What is the Nature Restoration Law?
The Nature Restoration Law is the regulation passed by the European Parliament to give a legal backing to the biodiversity targets agreed in the Green Deal.
Generally, it shifts the focus of habitats and biodiversity away from regulations and towards restoration with a view to rehabilitating every degraded habitat across the EU’s land, waterways and seas by 2050.
Although there was broad political support for general EU-wide agri-environmental targets when the Green Deal was agreed, this support began to fracture when concrete proposals were put on the table by Brussels.
What are the targets set out in the law?
The Nature Restoration Law places an obligation on all member states to restore 30% of degraded habitats by 2030, rising to 60% by 2040 and 90% by 2050.
These habitats range from grasslands, to rivers and forestry, with many of these lands being farmed.
Natura 2000 lands will be the focus in meeting 2030's targets.
Separate targets for farmland ecosystems will see the State choosing to increase two of the following three environmental indicators: the grassland butterfly index, the stock of organic carbon in mineral tillage soils and the share of farmland covered with high-diversity landscape features.
These features include hedgerows, trees, fallow land, buffer strips and other non-productive features.
There can be no backsliding on progress made towards reaching the law’s targets.
What is restoration?
The law defines restoration as “actively or passively assisting the recovery of an ecosystem”.
Examples of restoration measures range from introducing biodiversity features like buffer strips and hedges into farmland, to stopping grassland reseeding, cutting down on fertiliser use and reducing the amount of grazing or mowing.
The European Commission maintains that restoration measures “do not intend to stop agricultural land-use but rather adapt this type of use”.
What is rewetting?
The law defines rewetting as “changing a drained peat soil towards a wet peat soil” meaning that water does not need to be taken to land’s surface to constitute rewetting under the law.
Some rewetting has taken place on Bord na Móna bogs formerly used for peat extraction, and a few pilot projects have rewet a field or two of participating farmers’ land, but rewetting has yet to be rolled out on a wide scale across farmland in Ireland.
Are rewetting and restoring peatlands the same thing?
The law states that restoring wetlands can be done by “rewetting drained peatlands, removing peatland drainage structures or de-poldering and discontinuing peat excavation”.
Although the detail has to be agreed in Ireland’s national plan, both rewetting and restoration are likely to see peaty lands made wetter and revert towards their natural state.
Rewetting shortens the grazing season and reduces stocking rates on parcels which have been rewet.
How many acres of land will Ireland have to rewet?
Approximately one in every five acres farmed in Ireland are widely cited as being peat soils, with these spread throughout the west and midlands.
It had been considered that there were 335,000ha of drained peat soils in farming use until a major Teagasc review of this figure in 2023 found that perhaps only one-third of this land is drained effectively.
There has been very little rewetting carried out on farmland so far, but state lands could meet Ireland's rewetting targets. / Clive Wasson
A 335,000ha figure would mean restoring 167,000ha and rewetting 55,000ha by 2050.
However, if Teagasc’s figure of there being around 110,000ha of these lands in total is the baseline, only 18,000ha will need to be rewet and 55,000ha restored by 2050, meaning that State lands could be used to meet every rewetting target set out in the law.
Lands rewet or restored by State agencies can count towards these targets and Government has insisted that this approach will be a priority, as will the buying up of new State lands in hill areas for environmental purposes.
The original proposal tabled by Brussels had sought to require 70% of drained farmed peatlands to be restored, with half of these lands to be rewet.
How will the law be funded?
There has been no new EU funding stream brought forward yet to finance nature restoration measures, with the law itself pointing to national budgets as a source of finance.
Although Government is still to decide the detail on how it will spend its €3bn climate and nature war chest for 2026 to 2030, farm measures may be difficult to finance through the envelope, as it is ringfenced for one-off spending.
As a capital fund, it cannot provide farmers with yearly payments on the rollout of environmental measures under the Nature Restoration Law. Funding remains one of the greatest uncertainties associated with the law.
What does it mean for farmers?
The restoration targets place legally binding targets on Government, but not on farmers, and Government has continually insisted that
no farmer will be forced to implement measures under the law.
However, the law could raise the environmental bar in future CAP plans, as the State could have to justify whatever farm schemes it proposes as being fully compatible with meeting restoration targets.
The state plans on snapping up more lands at public auction to restore. / Valerie O’Sullivan
Many impacts of the law may also be unintended and not witnessed for a decade after it passes and the implementation train leaves the station.
Farmers on designated lands often cite rules being imposed on their lands long after the Habitats Directive passed as being a warning for the Nature Restoration Law.
When will farmers be impacted?
The law states that Natura 2000 designated lands should be prioritised for meeting 2030 restoration targets.
This could lead to farmers on designated lands being the focus of any measures planned for the coming five years.
The State has repeatedly insisted that measures under the law will be voluntary and backed by funding, so if Government is to hold true to this, new agri-environmental schemes will be brought forward for these areas in the coming years.
However, after 2030, the law will apply across all habitats in need of restoration across the country.
What happens next?
After member states give one final seal of approval to the law later this month, Ireland will have two years to submit a national restoration plan to Brussels.
This plan will set out what measures the State intendsto roll out to meet its targets and where it plans on implementing them.
A consultation process will feed into the plan and farming organisations are expected to be invited to these consultation discussions.
What is the Nature Restoration Law?
The Nature Restoration Law is the regulation passed by the European Parliament to give a legal backing to the biodiversity targets agreed in the Green Deal.
Generally, it shifts the focus of habitats and biodiversity away from regulations and towards restoration with a view to rehabilitating every degraded habitat across the EU’s land, waterways and seas by 2050.
Although there was broad political support for general EU-wide agri-environmental targets when the Green Deal was agreed, this support began to fracture when concrete proposals were put on the table by Brussels.
What are the targets set out in the law?
The Nature Restoration Law places an obligation on all member states to restore 30% of degraded habitats by 2030, rising to 60% by 2040 and 90% by 2050.
These habitats range from grasslands, to rivers and forestry, with many of these lands being farmed.
Natura 2000 lands will be the focus in meeting 2030's targets.
Separate targets for farmland ecosystems will see the State choosing to increase two of the following three environmental indicators: the grassland butterfly index, the stock of organic carbon in mineral tillage soils and the share of farmland covered with high-diversity landscape features.
These features include hedgerows, trees, fallow land, buffer strips and other non-productive features.
There can be no backsliding on progress made towards reaching the law’s targets.
What is restoration?
The law defines restoration as “actively or passively assisting the recovery of an ecosystem”.
Examples of restoration measures range from introducing biodiversity features like buffer strips and hedges into farmland, to stopping grassland reseeding, cutting down on fertiliser use and reducing the amount of grazing or mowing.
The European Commission maintains that restoration measures “do not intend to stop agricultural land-use but rather adapt this type of use”.
What is rewetting?
The law defines rewetting as “changing a drained peat soil towards a wet peat soil” meaning that water does not need to be taken to land’s surface to constitute rewetting under the law.
Some rewetting has taken place on Bord na Móna bogs formerly used for peat extraction, and a few pilot projects have rewet a field or two of participating farmers’ land, but rewetting has yet to be rolled out on a wide scale across farmland in Ireland.
Are rewetting and restoring peatlands the same thing?
The law states that restoring wetlands can be done by “rewetting drained peatlands, removing peatland drainage structures or de-poldering and discontinuing peat excavation”.
Although the detail has to be agreed in Ireland’s national plan, both rewetting and restoration are likely to see peaty lands made wetter and revert towards their natural state.
Rewetting shortens the grazing season and reduces stocking rates on parcels which have been rewet.
How many acres of land will Ireland have to rewet?
Approximately one in every five acres farmed in Ireland are widely cited as being peat soils, with these spread throughout the west and midlands.
It had been considered that there were 335,000ha of drained peat soils in farming use until a major Teagasc review of this figure in 2023 found that perhaps only one-third of this land is drained effectively.
There has been very little rewetting carried out on farmland so far, but state lands could meet Ireland's rewetting targets. / Clive Wasson
A 335,000ha figure would mean restoring 167,000ha and rewetting 55,000ha by 2050.
However, if Teagasc’s figure of there being around 110,000ha of these lands in total is the baseline, only 18,000ha will need to be rewet and 55,000ha restored by 2050, meaning that State lands could be used to meet every rewetting target set out in the law.
Lands rewet or restored by State agencies can count towards these targets and Government has insisted that this approach will be a priority, as will the buying up of new State lands in hill areas for environmental purposes.
The original proposal tabled by Brussels had sought to require 70% of drained farmed peatlands to be restored, with half of these lands to be rewet.
How will the law be funded?
There has been no new EU funding stream brought forward yet to finance nature restoration measures, with the law itself pointing to national budgets as a source of finance.
Although Government is still to decide the detail on how it will spend its €3bn climate and nature war chest for 2026 to 2030, farm measures may be difficult to finance through the envelope, as it is ringfenced for one-off spending.
As a capital fund, it cannot provide farmers with yearly payments on the rollout of environmental measures under the Nature Restoration Law. Funding remains one of the greatest uncertainties associated with the law.
What does it mean for farmers?
The restoration targets place legally binding targets on Government, but not on farmers, and Government has continually insisted that
no farmer will be forced to implement measures under the law.
However, the law could raise the environmental bar in future CAP plans, as the State could have to justify whatever farm schemes it proposes as being fully compatible with meeting restoration targets.
The state plans on snapping up more lands at public auction to restore. / Valerie O’Sullivan
Many impacts of the law may also be unintended and not witnessed for a decade after it passes and the implementation train leaves the station.
Farmers on designated lands often cite rules being imposed on their lands long after the Habitats Directive passed as being a warning for the Nature Restoration Law.
When will farmers be impacted?
The law states that Natura 2000 designated lands should be prioritised for meeting 2030 restoration targets.
This could lead to farmers on designated lands being the focus of any measures planned for the coming five years.
The State has repeatedly insisted that measures under the law will be voluntary and backed by funding, so if Government is to hold true to this, new agri-environmental schemes will be brought forward for these areas in the coming years.
However, after 2030, the law will apply across all habitats in need of restoration across the country.
What happens next?
After member states give one final seal of approval to the law later this month, Ireland will have two years to submit a national restoration plan to Brussels.
This plan will set out what measures the State intendsto roll out to meet its targets and where it plans on implementing them.
A consultation process will feed into the plan and farming organisations are expected to be invited to these consultation discussions.
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