Countries need ambitious urban biodiversity targets under the EU Nature Restoration Law

2025/05/10 by Valentin H. Klaus, Klára Řehounková, Orsolya Valkó +2 · 1 voice · 5 citations
Environmental Science · #Biodiversity #Biology #Business #Ecology #Economics #Environmental Conservation and Management #Environmental law #Environmental planning #Geography #Land Use and Ecosystem Services #Law #Natural resource economics #Political science #Urban Green Space and Health

paper · pdf · doi:10.1038/s42949-025-00218-8

published in npj Urban Sustainability 5(1) (Nature Portfolio)

openalex publication_date 2025/05/10 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/01

Abstract

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.

Citations

• Promoting urban biodiversity for the benefit of people and nature

Cited by

• Promoting biodiversity in urban green spaces: Recent hurdles and opportunities identified in the Ruhr Area
• Urban soil Gammaproteobacteria diversity, shaped by biodiverse land use, predicts a lower risk of developing allergy in children

Discussions

• Delighted to share our recent open access work: The EU Nature Restoration Law widely ignores the biodiversity of urban green spaces, although these are crucial for truly sustainable cities. Countrie [bsky, 16 points, 3 comments]

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