The Restoration of Grassland Butterflies in Belgium: Legal opportunities and challenges under the Nature Restoration Regulation

Abstract

In the Flemish Region of Belgium, a leading scientific study determined that 19 out of 64 indigenous butterfly species went extinct in the twentieth century, with half of the remaining butterflies being threatened. Almost all of these butterflies have disappeared or are threatened due to economic exploitation of their habitats or lack of appropriate conservation management. This decline is also occurring in many other northwest European states. Within that scientific background, article 11 of the Nature Restoration Regulation introduces restoration targets and obligations for agricultural ecosystems. In paragraph 2, Member States are required to put in place measures aimed at achieving an increasing trend at the national level of at least two out of three indicators, one of which is the grassland butterfly index. The grassland butterfly index is a well-established monitoring scheme applied by 18 Member States, covering 15 indicator species of grassland butterflies, which are regarded as reliable indicators to assess environmental health. The restoration of grassland butterflies, as one of the indicators of agricultural ecosystems, is a vital opportunity for the Flemish Region of Belgium to halt butterfly decline and remedy the damage of the previous century. This contribution asks through legal doctrinal analysis whether the Nature Restoration Regulation adequately accounts for temporal ecological distortions, such as shifting baselines, and whether EU-level standard-setting might better achieve restoration targets. A key legal challenge is the phenomenon of shifting baselines in the setting of satisfactory levels for grassland butterflies, since Member States may rely on monitoring data of grassland butterflies after they already experienced significant decline. This creates a tension between legal restoration targets and scientific methodologies, conflicting with the principle of effectiveness and the precautionary principle. Furthermore, this challenge also raises the question of whether the European Commission, rather than individual Member States, should have set uniform satisfactory levels, particularly in light of the principle of subsidiarity. In conclusion, the Nature Restoration Regulation provides for the restoration of agricultural ecosystems, with grassland butterflies as one of the indicators. Implementation of this provides an opportunity for the Flemish Region of Belgium to restore decades of declining grassland butterflies. However, it also presents significant legal challenges, particularly concerning shifting ecological baselines and the need for coherent implementation in EU environmental law.