The Restoration of Insects: Challenges and Opportunities under the Nature Restoration Law

Abstract

Many insects are declining and threatened with extinction across the EU. However, they play vital roles in ecosystem functions that are essential to biodiversity and human well-being, such as pollination. Within this context, the primary research question is how and why the Nature Restoration Law imposes legal obligations to restore insect abundance and diversity. The paper identifies two explicit obligations, covering pollinators and grassland butterflies, as well as numerous indirect opportunities to restore insects as part of the respective ecosystem. However, their restoration is faced with numerous challenges that hinder effective implementation and enforcement, specifically asymmetric obligations between the EU and Member States, the ambiguous legal-ecological concept of satisfactory levels and shifting baselines, and limited monitoring capacity. Following from these findings, the Nature Restoration Law makes a step beyond the species-specific approach of the Habitats Directive, which is negligible to cover the breadth of the insect world. By analysing these developments, the paper not only clarifies the legal architecture for insect restoration under the Nature Restoration Law but also offers a broader perspective on evolving approaches to nature conservation and the role of binding legal obligations in reversing biodiversity loss.