MARINE RESTORATION AND BLUE ECONOMY IN THE EUROPEAN UNION AFTER THE APPROVAL OF THE NATURE RESTORATION REGULATION

Abstract

Marine ecosystems have a unique value for the life on Earth as they provide multiple services ranging from carbon storage, oxygen generation, excess heat absorption to maintaining biodiversity and directly contributing to human wellbeing. However, these ecosystems are currently in a poor conservation condition with over one-third of mangrove ecosystems being deficient or seriously degraded, the disappearance of over half of all coastal wetlands or with the loss of 13.5% of the global hard coral in a decade. In the face of this situation, the preservation approach is no longer enough, but action is needed to recover these degraded or lost ecosystems. Until now, restoration tended to take place targeting specific interventions but without tracing connections between them. But the biodiversity crisis has evidenced the urgent need to act, and, in the last years, restoration has been integrated in the legislation, both at an international and at a European level. This resulted in the adoption of the supranational legally binding EU Nature Restoration Regulation (NRR) last summer. Nevertheless, the implementation of the NRR depends on the establishment of synergies with other programmes to be materialised. This article argues that for marine restoration, establishing connections with Blue Economy should be mainstreamed. This will be beneficial for the advancement of marine restoration, but most importantly will ultimately be key for achieving the Blue Economy targets: increased economic growth, better livelihoods and ocean health.