According to the commissioner’s assessment, there is enough work to be done in restoring nature in the Nordic countries, although the first comments from Finland have pointed out that many actions have already been taken.
European the future nature restoration law of the union includes a lot of flexibility, so the effectiveness of the implementation will largely be in the hands of the member states. The Restoration Act aims to prevent the loss of nature, as the diversity of nature has weakened in an alarming way worldwide.
During Midsummer, the EU Commission presented its proposal as a binding target, according to which at least 20 percent of the EU’s land and sea areas should be subject to restoration measures by 2030.
Another goal would be for restoration efforts to be extended to all areas that need them by 2050.
But will the flexibilities promised to the member states ultimately make it impossible to achieve this goal? Environment Commissioner Virginijus Sinkevicius shakes his head: according to him, the restoration law will “definitely” be effective.
He believes that the given freedom motivates all member countries to fulfill the goals. The flexibilities included in the bill have their reasons.
“At the end of the day, this is politics and it’s also about finding compromises. Otherwise, the member states could prevent it (the legislative proposal) from progressing, and we wouldn’t get to the point of implementation at all,” says Sinkevicius in an interview with STT via video link.
He emphasizes that in order to carry out the restoration measures, support from the people and society at large is needed.
“We can write no matter how beautiful and ambitious legislation is, but if it is not put into practice on the ground, it makes no sense,” says Sinkevicius.
Zincevicius emphasizes that restoring nature is not the same thing as nature conservation. Restoring the areas is not pacifying them, but after the restoration, business activities can be continued in the areas, for example.
Minister of Agriculture and Forestry Antti Kurvinen (Centre) has been quite satisfied with the restoration act in its first comments. According to Kurvinen, many of the things proposed by the commission are already being done in Finland.
In his briefing, the minister thanked the commission, among other things, for the fact that there is a lot of flexibility in peatland activities.
“It is important that the goals regarding peat fields do not weaken the livelihood opportunities of rural livelihoods or food security,” Kurvinen said in his press release in June.
Zincevicius does not fully endorse the idea that the measures proposed by the Commission in June are already very widely used.
“There is still a lot of work to be done in the Nordic countries as well. We are of course happy that the member countries are taking action and I think the best experiences should be shared among the member countries”, says Sinkevicius.
Sinkevicius estimates that a balance has been sought in the Restoration Act so that the level of ambition has not been compromised too much and no member state has to bear an unreasonably large burden. He emphasizes that Finland’s wishes have been well taken into account in the preparation phase.
Peatlands often play a big role in the Finnish debate, but Sinkevicius reminds us that each member state has its own pain points.
“Ecosystems are not evenly distributed between member countries. Certain habitats occur more in the north and others in the south. For example, there are more peatlands in the north and coastal wetlands in the south,” explains Sinkevicius.
#Environment #aims #improve #biodiversity #flexible #restoration #law #environment #commissioner #considers #compromises #guarantee #implementation
