To: Commission President Ursula von der LeyenCc:Executive Vice-President Frans Timmermans Commissioner Virginijus Sinkevičius Brussels, 10th of March 2022 Call for a strong and ambitious EU Regulation on nature protection Dear Commission President Von der Leyen,Given the recent developments and the interventions of several stakeholders, we, the undersigned, are reiterating our call for a strong and ambitious EU Regulation on nature restoration.We welcome the Commissions efforts to establish legally binding obligations on EU member states, spanning the period until 2050. In our view, these obligations should
- Aim to achieve ambitious targets;
- Be additional to other efforts to bring back nature;
- Specify targets for different ecosystems;
- Strictly apply to each EU member state.
- Place 30 % of drained wetland under restoration, regardless of whether they have been drained for agricultural production, forests or peat extraction;
- Increase the abundance of wild pollinators;
- Restore at least 25.000km of rivers to a free-flowing state.
- Set area-based national targets for each member state, that cannot be compensated by action in other member states or outside the EU;
- Monitor both measures taken and outcomes achieved via outcome based targets;
- Provide for financial support for the implementation of the targets and obligations;
- Carry dissuasive sanctions for non-compliance.
Authors
- Published in
- Belgium