Portugal will vote favorin the European Union (EU), in Nature Restoration Law in defense of the conservation of species and habitats, the Minister of Environment and Energy announced today.
Portugal will vote tomorrow in favor of the Restoration Law [segunda-feira] at the Luxembourg Environment Council. It is a very balanced law, very thought out and worked on,” she told journalists Maria da Graça Carvalho.
The minister, who will participate on Monday in Luxembourg in the Council of Environment Ministers and where the law will be voted on, thus clarified Portugal’s position after several environmental non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and citizen movements had advanced that the intention was vote against.
Maria da Graça Carvalho does not know the reason that led the NGOs to think that Portugal would vote against, even expressing surprise, but she considered that it could be related to the fact that “several countries have changed their position.”
“Some members of the Government, who were MEPs at the time, worked a lot on this law. We translated a series of amendments that are in the final version of the law and introduced diversity. The law takes into account the characteristics from one country to another, from one region to another, local characteristics and the characteristics of the outermost regions,” he explained.
The minister highlighted that MEPs managed to introduce these changes at the time, which made “the law very balanced”, meaning that Portugal could only vote in favor now. “The members of the Government who were MEPs voted in favor of the latest version of this law,” highlighted.
TO Nature Restoration Law establishes that all EU countries will be obliged to present and adopt a National Restoration Plan, with specific objectives, which must provide for the restoration of at least 30% of terrestrial habitats, coastal, marine and freshwater in unfavorable conservation status until 2030, 60% by 2040 and 90% by 2050. EU Member States will also have to ensure that no significant deterioration occurs in areas subject to restoration.
Explaining the importance of this law for Portugal and for the entire EU, Maria da Graça Carvalho stated that it “encourages and provides for the restoration of nature”, be it soil, forests and urban environments. “It encourages more trees in urban areas. It encourages the recovery of rivers and the removal of artificial barriers that are unnecessary and obsolete,” she said, noting that she also has plans to “protect the forest and remove accumulated biomass.”
The minister also stressed that the new legislation will allow the creation of “maps of species, ecosystems and habitats” and monitoring of the chosen indicators. “It is a law for the protection and recovery of the soil and never a law against the use of land. Areas that are degraded will be recovered and, therefore, a great human investment must be seen here,” he highlighted.
According to the minister, the Institute for the Conservation of Nature and Forests (ICNF) will play a prominent role in this process, which together with the Portuguese Environment Agency, responsible for cities, local communities, civil society, the academia and NGOs will design the strategies. of what needs to be done to recover the most degraded ecosystems, be they rivers, forests and soils.
“Have more diversity and soils in good condition and never the other way around. “This is a law that benefits everyone,” he said, lamenting that there was “a lot of misinformation” and “a certain fear” of a law that he classified as positive.
The legislative proposal was approved in Strasbourg (France) on February 27, with 329 votes in favor, 275 against and 24 abstentions, after being brought forward on June 22, 2022, by the European Commission to respond to the poor conditions. In those 80% of European habitats, both terrestrial and marine, were evaluated.
Source: Observadora
