Portugal submitted this morning, August 28, to the European Commission the project of the National Plan for Nature Restoration (PNRN), meeting the deadline provided in the European Regulation on Nature Restoration, which ends on August 31. The document lays the groundwork for the recovery of degraded ecosystems, the strengthening of biodiversity, and the increase in the resilience of territories and populations.
The submission was disclosed by the Office of the Minister for the Environment and Energy in a statement, according to which Maria da Graça Carvalho also sent this morning a letter to the European Commissioner for the Environment, Water Resilience and Competitive Circular Economy, Jessika Roswall, formally communicating the delivery of the Plan and reaffirming Portugal’s commitment to the European nature restoration objectives.
The project results from work coordinated by the Institute for Nature Conservation and Forests (ICNF), which involved the Autonomous Regions of the Azores and Madeira, a Steering Committee, and the Knowledge Network for Nature Restoration, constituted by more than 200 researchers from across the country.
The process also included a public consultation, held from July 9 to August 19, which received 184 contributions. According to the Government, the contributions collected allowed for changes to be introduced and to strengthen the technical, scientific, and operational quality of the document.
“Portugal is meeting, and meeting ahead of the deadline. But this delivery does not represent the end of a process. It represents the beginning of a new phase to bring nature restoration to the ground. We want this Plan to be more than a document: we want it to be a true national movement, capable of mobilizing the State, the Autonomous Regions, the municipalities, the scientific community, the economic sectors and civil society. Restoring nature is about protecting biodiversity, but it is also about making our territories more resilient, generating wealth and improving the quality of life of the populations,” says the Minister for the Environment and Energy, Maria da Graça Carvalho.
After incorporating the contributions received and consolidating measures with similar objectives, the PNRN project submitted to Brussels includes 386 measures. These cover terrestrial, coastal and freshwater, marine and urban ecosystems, as well as rivers and floodplains, pollinators, and agricultural and forest ecosystems. The document also includes cross-cutting governance measures.
Under the terms of the European Regulation on Nature Restoration, the European Commission now has six months to assess the project and present observations. Portugal will then have another six months to finalize, publish, and present the final version of the Plan, in a second phase that will take place between September 2026 and August 2027.
Among the initiatives already underway that could contribute to the Plan’s implementation are new nature restoration pilot projects in territories particularly affected by disasters, such as the Serra da Estrela, Peneda-Gerês National Park, the Guadiana Valley, Alentejo Litoral, and Mata da Margaraça.
In the letter sent to Commissioner Jessika Roswall, Maria da Graça Carvalho also argues that nature restoration must be provided with adequate funding in the next Multiannual Financial Framework 2028-2034. The minister also reiterates Portugal’s support for the creation of a European Fund for Nature Restoration, intended to address the scale of the challenge and mobilize the resources necessary to implement the national plans.
The Government also intends to diversify funding sources through complementary instruments, including a future market for nature credits and mobilization of private capital.
The objective is to ensure that the National Plan for Nature Restoration translates into concrete territorial results, contributing to the recovery of biodiversity and the ecosystem services provided, with benefits for the economy, the well-being of the populations, the quality of life, and the country’s climate resilience.
According to information provided by the European Commission, so far only two EU Member States had submitted their respective National Plan for Nature Restoration. Portugal thus joins the first group of countries to complete this stage of the process.
