EVESNAT

The new EU Nature Restoration Law requires Member States to restore at least 20% of EU land and sea by 2030, and all ecosystems in need of restoration by 2050. Member States need to develop National Restoration Plans and solutions to restore habitats and species, improve biodiversity in different ecosystems, and halt the decline of urban green spaces. However, it is unclear how Member States can successfully achieve these targets. Nature-based Solutions (NbS) are a promising way to address these challenges, as NbS can promote the creation, restoration, and enhancement of ecosystems, supporting biodiversity conservation and the provision of ecosystem services (ES). Nevertheless, the ability of NbS to co-generate benefits for human well-being is still unclear. Therefore, the aim of EVESNAT is to evaluate the role of NbS in supporting biodiversity and human well-being under the new EU Nature Restoration Law. Specifically, we will evaluate three different spatially explicit scenarios of NbS that will be co-created with local stakeholders through a quantitative assessment of multiple ES and biodiversity. The findings of the project will contribute to improved management and governance supporting the targets of the Nature Restoration Law by adopting a standardized transnational, inter- and transdisciplinary approach, involving natural and social sciences as well as decision-makers and stakeholders across different countries, landscapes, and ecosystems. The development of future NbS scenarios through a participatory approach, as we propose here, will contribute to initiating the co-production of knowledge that can underpin transformative change and mitigate anthropogenic drivers of biodiversity loss. In addition to conceptualizing the development of NbS together with stakeholders and evaluating synergies and trade-offs across ES under the different NbS scenarios, the project will generate guidelines based on concrete examples of NbS in different study regions, which can be transferred to other regions supporting the implementation of the Nature Restoration Law.