Countries need ambitious urban biodiversity targets under the EU Nature Restoration Law
The EU Nature Restoration Law could rapidly advance ecosystem restoration also in cities. Yet the law focuses on green cover but ignores the ecological quality and biodiversity of urban green spaces, although these are crucial for making cities truly sustainable. Therefore, countries must now define ambitious biodiversity targets and implement urban ecosystem restoration. We propose nine key actions to speed up this process and mainstream urban ecological restoration.
Authors
- Valentin H. Klaus (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7469-6800)
- Polina Degtjarenko (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0013-2575)
- Stephanie Schelfhout (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4642-352X)
- Orsolya Valkó (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7919-6293)
- Klára Řehounková (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0916-6977)
Institutions
- Sewanee: The University of the South (US)
- Research Institute for Nature and Forest (BE)
- University of South Bohemia in České Budějovice (CZ)
- Ghent University (BE)
- Institute of Ecology and Botany (HU)
- Institute of Geography (KZ)
- HUN-REN Centre for Ecological Research (HU)
- University of Tartu (EE)
- Ruhr University Bochum (DE)
Publication Details
- Journal
- npj Urban Sustainability
- Published
- 2025-05-10
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1038/s42949-025-00218-8
- Citations
- 2
- Primary Topic
- Land Use and Ecosystem Services
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 2.21
Funders
- Technology Agency of the Czech Republic
- Magyar Tudományos Akadémia
- Suomen Ympäristökeskus