Specific Challenge:
Underpinned by knowledge in the latest IPCC and IPBES reports, large-scale ecosystem restoration is urgent – the window of opportunity is closing rapidly. It needs a systemic approach to deliver tangible benefits on the European Green Deal actions for climate (mitigation, adaptation and disaster risk reduction), biodiversity, zero pollution and sustainable food systems (from farm to fork), health and wellbeing. Actions under this topic should therefore be pivotal in demonstrating and promoting systemic solutions for upscaling urgent restoration to increase biodiversity and support a wide range of ecosystem services, as requested in the Biodiversity Strategy for 2030 for damaged terrestrial, freshwater, coastal and marine ecosystems.
Resilient, healthy ecosystems are natural carbon stocks and sinks. They can remove CO2 from the atmosphere and support adaptation to climate change and disaster risk reduction. In addition to delivering a wide range of other services (oxygen source, improved health and well-being, recreation, water retention and purification, air quality, nutrient cycling or pollination), ecosystems are essential in a wide range of sectors which impact the everyday life of Europe’s citizens (food, feed, fibre or fuel provision across the bioeconomy). However, biodiversity is being lost and ecosystems are degrading at an alarming rate. Pressures on biodiversity are increasing at a faster rate than the efforts to protect it[1]. The integrity of terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems, and their capacity to deliver a wide range of essential services to people, will be further undermined by the effects of unavoidable climate change. There is therefore a need to strengthen their resilience against environmental and climate stressors while integrating the local socio-economic specificities of their surrounding environment.
While solutions for the restoration of biodiversity and ecosystem services are available now, they are neither up-scaled nor integrated enough in today’s governance, investment or policy support landscapes. Research and demonstration on how to scale up technical and non-technical approaches for the spatial and social-economic integration of restoration impacts is therefore needed. The environmental emergency highlights the limits of current management approaches and calls for investment in innovative, sustainable and effective restoration including through mobilising innovative funding and cross-sectoral collaborations that could trigger transformational change. Moreover, the global biodiversity post-2020 framework seeks voluntary commitments by business and stakeholders to invest in biodiversity and new approaches to speed up actions in the framework of the UN decade for restoration.
From increased social awareness to more engagement with the private sector, there is a distinct need to build trans-disciplinary collaborations at all scales and across relevant ecosystem types. Win-win solutions and multi-purpose usage that support local biodiversity while delivering specific services and socio-economic benefits are sought. Hence, this topic seeks answers on how to frame transformational change which supports a just transition[2] – to show how investing in nature restoration can explicitly help vulnerable regions and communities to improve their resilience to social and environmental shocks, when rapid changes in climate and environment, economies and social conditions occur.
This topic therefore responds to the urgent double challenge of (i) accelerating transformative change through (ii) upscaling restoration of ecosystems at sea or on land.
Scope:Actions should:
Actions should demonstrate how restoration (in biodiversity richness and abundance, structure, function and connectivity) of ecosystems and their services can be scaled up[7], in collaboration with stakeholders, so that opportunities for substantial biodiversity and ecosystem services gains will be realised, which in turn deliver social and economic benefits. This pilot is a European Green Deal enabler and can be used as a testbed for further green infrastructure/nature-based solution investment by the European Investment Bank (EIB), for LIFE SNAPs[8], and relevant further budget lines in the next Multiannual Financial Framework.
Appropriate budget for cooperation with and use of tools resulting from previous projects on ecosystem restoration and nature-based solutions[9], including from LIFE projects[10] and with Horizon Europe activities such as the European Partnerships[11] and Missions[12] should be envisaged.
Actions should also test and evaluate innovating approaches for creating value with human communities undergoing transformative change, avoiding negative externalities and improving their living conditions by restoring their terrestrial and/or aquatic environment.
Actions should also address all of the following issues:
Project consortia must evidence that they have the rights to undertake actions on the areas to be restored. No land purchase or lease can be funded under this topic. Projects are expected to mobilise additional funding or in-kind contributions when implementing restoration actions.
Proposals should dedicate appropriate resources to develop joint deliverables with all projects funded under this topic and for cooperation with other projects. Actions should use existing platforms and information sharing mechanisms relevant for restoration and nature-based solutions, giving open access to its results.
The Commission considers that proposals requesting a contribution from the EU of between EUR 16 and 25 million would allow this specific challenge to be addressed appropriately. Nonetheless, this does not preclude submission and selection of proposals requesting other amounts.
Projects are expected to give priority in their budgets for hands-on action on restoration. In order to ensure a balanced portfolio of supported actions, at least two proposals covering terrestrial and/or freshwater ecosystems, and at least two covering coastal and/or marine ecosystems will be funded.
Expected Impact:Actions are expected to demonstrate how transformational change through ecosystem restoration delivers at large scale, delivering first visible results and examples on land and at sea by 2024, with benefits increasing in the long-term.
The project results are expected to contribute to:
Open Innovation
Open Science
RRI
International cooperation
Socio-economic science and humanities
Blue Growth
[1] See SOER 2020, IPBES (2018, 2019).
[2] See EU Biodiversity Strategy for 2030, COM(2020) 380 final: “The implementation [will] recognise the need to ensure social justice, fairness and inclusiveness […], and will require a sense of responsibility and strong joint efforts from the EU, its Member States, stakeholders and citizens.”
[3] Based on CBD guidance on ecosystem restoration, and in line with the EU 2030 Biodiversity Strategy whose Restoration Plan aims to help bring diverse and resilient nature back to all landscapes and ecosystems.
[4]https://ec.europa.eu/research/environment/index.cfm?pg=nbs “Nature-based solutions are inspired and supported by nature, which are cost-effective, simultaneously provide environmental, social and economic benefits and help build resilience. Such solutions bring more, and more diverse, nature and natural features and processes into cities, landscapes and seascapes, through locally adapted, resource-efficient and systemic interventions”. – Hence, nature-based solutions must benefit biodiversity and support the delivery of a range of ecosystem services.
[5]https://ec.europa.eu/environment/life/project/Projects/index.cfm
[6] In particular assessments in preparation, policy tools and capacity building.
[7] “Up-scaling” means here substantial increase in area of restored ecosystem(s), provision of ecosystem services, leading to enhanced ecological integrity at the landscape scale as well as greater community resilience and well-being. This implies a systemic approach, which usually combines several ecosystems, integrates with relevant sectorial policies and incorporates the identified solutions in policy and related actions.
[8] SNAP = Strategic Nature Action Projects.
[9] See SC5-27-2020, CLA-11-2020, SC5-13-2018-2019, SCC-02-2016-2017, BiodivERsA, Oppla, NetworkNature and their joint work streams.
[10]https://ec.europa.eu/easme/en/life
[11]https://ec.europa.eu/info/horizon-europe-next-research-and-innovation-framework-programme/european-partnerships-horizon-europe_en
[12]https://ec.europa.eu/info/horizon-europe-next-research-and-innovation-framework-programme/missions-horizon-europe_en
[13]E.g on Mapping and Assessing Ecosystems and their Services, LIFE, or through SC5-07-2015.
[14]in particular LIFE Integrated projects , and LIFE Strategic Nature Projects (in LIFE database, choose as strand “Integrated Projects for Environment” or “Integrated Projects Clima”).
[15] As developed for restoration in EU and worldwide schemes, or through SC5-2020-20, or pollinator monitoring, or Earth Observation-based monitoring, using Copernicus data, or natural capital accounting, where adequate and relevant.
[16] This could include the EU Outermost regions.
[17] For socio-economic benefits restoration to improving ecosystem services, see e.g. SWD(2019)305 final.
[18]In particular the EU Nature Restoration Plan as announced in the EU Biodiversity Strategy for 2030.
[19]On restoration needs identified in the EU State of Nature Report, and identified by EU Member States in their Prioritised Action Frameworks https://www.eea.europa.eu/themes/biodiversity/state-of-nature-in-the-eu/state-of-nature-2020.