FutureLakes to support states on EU Nature Restoration Regulation

The EU Nature Restoration Regulation (NRR), effective from August 18, 2024, aims to restore at least 20% of the EU's land and sea by 2030 and all ecosystems needing restoration by 2050. Freshwater ecosystems have specific targets, requiring Member States to put in place restoration measures on at least 30% of areas of protected habitat types not in good condition by 2030 and 90% of areas by 2050. This includes various lake habitat types and priority freshwater species covered by the EU Habitats and Birds Directives.

For FutureLakes, this regulation is crucial. Member States must draft their National Restoration Plans by September 1, 2026, and finalize them by September 1, 2027, after a review by the European Commission. Although the NRR was not explicitly mentioned in the call that funded FutureLakes, our goals align perfectly with the knowledge needs of the NRR.

The draft format of National Restoration Plans requires knowledge on how and where to restore freshwater habitats and species within a country. Member States must detail where restoration measures should be prioritised, their co-benefits for climate change mitigation, disaster risk reduction, and other societal benefits. They also need to provide implementation and maintenance costs and assess the effectiveness of these measures.

In the light of these urgent European policy knowledge needs, FutureLakes work package leads will review all their activities that can help support Member States in implementing the NRR, identifying how their outputs can help deliver the information needed for more effective and impactful lake restoration across Europe.