by Bulat K. Yessekin
The European Commission’s proposal for a Nature Restoration Law is the first continent-wide, comprehensive law of its kind. It is a key element of the EU Biodiversity Strategy, which calls for binding targets to restore degraded ecosystems, in particular those with the most potential to capture and store carbon and to prevent and reduce the impact of natural disasters. Europe’s nature is in alarming decline, with more than 80% of habitats in poor condition. Restoring wetlands, rivers, forests, grasslands, marine ecosystems, and the species they host will help increase biodiversity, secure the things nature does for free, like cleaning our water and air, pollinating crops, and protecting us from floods, limit global warming to 1.5°C, build up Europe’s resilience and strategic autonomy, preventing natural disasters and reducing risks to food security. Draft EU Nature Restoration Law: https://environment.ec.europa.eu/publications/nature-restoration-law_en
Land conversion is one of the biggest threats to biodiversity in the modern world. In two related papers, the amount of unconverted land and the degree of connectivity among landscapes were measured, painting a clear picture of both what needs to be protected and the urgency of this task.
Ambitious conservation efforts are needed to stop the global biodiversity crisis. James R. Allan from the University of Amsterdam estimates the minimum land area to secure important biodiversity areas, ecologically intact areas, and optimal locations for representation of species ranges and ecoregions. «We discover that at least 64 million square kilometers (44% of terrestrial area) would require conservation attention (ranging from protected areas to land-use policies) to meet this goal. More than 1.8 billion people live on these lands, so responses that promote autonomy, self-determination, equity, and sustainable management for safeguarding biodiversity are essential. Spatially explicit land-use scenarios suggest that 1.3 million square kilometers of this land is at risk of being converted for intensive human land uses by 2030, which requires immediate attention. However, a sevenfold difference exists between the amount of habitat converted in optimistic and pessimistic land-use scenarios, highlighting an opportunity to avert this crisis. Appropriate targets in the Post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework to encourage conservation of the identified land would contribute substantially to safeguarding biodiversity» https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.abl9127
Similar studies (Viktor Gorshkov, Anastassia Makarieva, et al.) have shown that in order to preserve conditions suitable for life, humanity must return at least 50% of the land to nature: https://www.bioticregulation.ru/index.php
For more details:
https://environment.ec.europa.eu/publications/nature-restoration-law_en
https://environment.ec.europa.eu/topics/nature-and-biodiversity/nature-restoration-law_en
Bulat Yessekin is an International expert based in Kazachstan in environment, green economy and sustainable development. He is engaged at present in the Aral Sea Basin program, Balkhash Lake ecosystem management, Ural river transboundary cooperation. https://www.facebook.com/bulat.yessekin/
The European Commission’s proposal for a Nature Restoration Law is the first continent-wide, comprehensive law of its kind. It is a key element of the EU Biodiversity Strategy, which calls for binding targets to restore degraded ecosystems, in particular those with the most potential to capture and store carbon and to prevent and reduce the impact of natural disasters. Europe’s nature is in alarming decline, with more than 80% of habitats in poor condition. Restoring wetlands, rivers, forests, grasslands, marine ecosystems, and the species they host will help increase biodiversity, secure the things nature does for free, like cleaning our water and air, pollinating crops, and protecting us from floods, limit global warming to 1.5°C, build up Europe’s resilience and strategic autonomy, preventing natural disasters and reducing risks to food security. Draft EU Nature Restoration Law: https://environment.ec.europa.eu/publications/nature-restoration-law_en
Land conversion is one of the biggest threats to biodiversity in the modern world. In two related papers, the amount of unconverted land and the degree of connectivity among landscapes were measured, painting a clear picture of both what needs to be protected and the urgency of this task.
Ambitious conservation efforts are needed to stop the global biodiversity crisis. James R. Allan from the University of Amsterdam estimates the minimum land area to secure important biodiversity areas, ecologically intact areas, and optimal locations for representation of species ranges and ecoregions. «We discover that at least 64 million square kilometers (44% of terrestrial area) would require conservation attention (ranging from protected areas to land-use policies) to meet this goal. More than 1.8 billion people live on these lands, so responses that promote autonomy, self-determination, equity, and sustainable management for safeguarding biodiversity are essential. Spatially explicit land-use scenarios suggest that 1.3 million square kilometers of this land is at risk of being converted for intensive human land uses by 2030, which requires immediate attention. However, a sevenfold difference exists between the amount of habitat converted in optimistic and pessimistic land-use scenarios, highlighting an opportunity to avert this crisis. Appropriate targets in the Post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework to encourage conservation of the identified land would contribute substantially to safeguarding biodiversity» https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.abl9127
Similar studies (Viktor Gorshkov, Anastassia Makarieva, et al.) have shown that in order to preserve conditions suitable for life, humanity must return at least 50% of the land to nature: https://www.bioticregulation.ru/index.php
https://environment.ec.europa.eu/publications/nature-restoration-law_en
https://environment.ec.europa.eu/topics/nature-and-biodiversity/nature-restoration-law_en
