Main Support Events in 2025
- February 2025LIFE event
Finding new ways of funding nature conservation and restoration
The 2-day event built on the experience of LIFE projects and highlighted a range of ways nature conservation and restoration could be funded, including through philanthropy, corporate contributions and biodiversity credits. More than 400 policymakers, LIFE project representatives and stakeholders from the public and private sectors attended the meeting to share their experiences and knowledge of innovative funding mechanisms. Presentations focused on opening up different sources of funding such as tax incentives, corporate contributions and blended finance to supplement public investment.
- 20-21 March 2025 (online eventLIFE networking meeting
Tackling key challenges to upscaling nature restoration in the EU – learning from LIFE experience
This networking meeting addressed the need to upscale nature restoration efforts to support the implementation of the EU Nature Restoration Regulation (NRR), and how one can learn from LIFE projects to do so. During this meeting, the experience of 15 restoration projects was presented on the three strategic subjects ‘transfer of knowledge and building capacity’, ‘access to land’ and ‘mobilising other sectors’.
- 28 March 2025 (online event)Finance workshop
EUBP ad hoc biodiversity finance workshop
The 4th meeting of the EUBP ad hoc biodiversity finance group discussed the following topics: the next Multiannual Financial Framework post-2027, the Nature Restoration Regulation financing report (Article 21(7) NRR), an update on ongoing work on biodiversity certification and nature credits and the Technical Support Instrument 2025 call and Nature Flagship.
- 25-26 June 2025, Brussels/BEEU-wide Implementation Support Event
Developing site-specific conservation objectives for terrestrial and freshwater Natura 2000 sites
This Brussels-based event provided support and training, through best-practise presentations and networking exchanges, to the national and regional authorities in charge of drafting site-specific conservation objectives for terrestrial and freshwater Natura 2000 sites. Of the 80+ participants, ca. 60 were representatives of national and regional nature conservation authorities. All presentations and a report of the event will be available soon on the event-specific webpage.
- 7-9 October 2025, Budapest/HUEU-wide Implementation Support Event
Hosted by the Herman Ottó Institute Budapest (Coordinator of LIFE IPE Grasslands-HU) in cooperation with the Hungarian Ministry of Agriculture and the European Commission (DG.ENV), this event saw a large participation of experts from 19 Member States. The event provided support and training, through networking exchanges and best-practise presentations. It was mainly addressed to national and regional authorities from both the agricultural and environmental ministries, including those in charge of drafting the relevant chapters in the National Restoration Plans (NRPs) dedicated to the restoration of species-rich grasslands. Two representatives from DG.AGRI also attended this event as presenters. The event provided a platform for experience and knowledge exchange, on questions such as financing grassland restoration, restoration planning and setting of favourable reference values for grassland habitats, in the face of increasing pressures from land use intensification on one side, and rural abandonment on the other side. All presentations and a report of the event will be available soon on the event-specific webpage.
- 8-9 October 2025, Brussels/BEEU-wide Implementation Support Event
Developing site-specific conservation objectives for marine Natura 2000 sites
This Brussels-based event saw a large participation of experts from 17 Member States and provided support and training, through networking exchanges and best-practise presentations, to the national and regional authorities in charge of drafting site-specific conservation objectives for marine Natura 2000 sites. All presentations and a report of the event will be available soon on the event-specific webpage.
- 12-14 November 2025, Dublin/IEEU-wide Implementation Support Event
Hosted by the Irish nature conservation authorities in cooperation with the European Commission, this event saw the participation of the marine conservation experts from all EU Member States with marine waters and provided support and training, through networking exchanges and best-practise presentations, to the national and regional authorities in charge of drafting the national restoration plans (NRPs), with a focus on restoration measures for marine ecosystems.. All presentations and a report of the event will be made available soon on the event-specific webpage (for more information please turn to nature
ec [dot] europa [dot] eu (nature[at]ec[dot]europa[dot]eu)). - 1-3 December 2025, Brussels/BEEU-wide Implementation Support Event
This Brussels-based event provided support and training, through working groups, peer-to-peer exchanges and networking to the national and regional authorities in charge of drafting the National Restoration Plans (NRPs), with a focus on those measures that concern terrestrial and freshwater ecosystems. All presentations and a report of the event will be made available after the event on the event-specific webpage (for more information please turn to nature
ec [dot] europa [dot] eu (nature[at]ec[dot]europa[dot]eu)).
Main Supporting Resources
This Regulation establishes the uniform format for the national restoration plan, as required under Article 15(7 NRR). The uniform format is the central implementation tool for the Regulation and will support Member States in their nature restoration planning. The digital tool underpinning the NRP format is being designed to minimise administrative burden. It will enable re-use of data already reported under other policies and pre-filling of available information (report-once approach). Material that aims to facilitate the preparation by Member States of their draft NRP and support its future submission through the digital tool (Reportnet 3) is published in the NRR Portal. The test dataflow for the draft National Restoration Plans (NRP) in Reportnet 3 will be launched in December 2025, with an information webinar for Member States NRP reporters planned on 12 December.
- Delegated regulation establishing a science-based method for monitoring pollinator diversity and pollinator populations (19 September 2025)
As required under Article 10(2) NRR, this monitoring method will be the basis for assessing the progress made by the Member States towards meeting the targets set out in Article 10(1) to improve pollinator diversity and reverse the decline of pollinator populations at the latest by 2030 and thereafter achieve an increasing trend of pollinator populations, measured at least every six years from 2030, until satisfactory levels are achieved.
- Commission Notice on guidance on High Diversity Landscape Features (14 February 2025)
This Notice, adopted under Article 14(7) NRR, is intended to assist national authorities in the application of the agricultural indicator of “share of agricultural land with high-diversity landscape features” under Article 11(2) NRR. Specifically, it provides guidance on how to develop monitoring methodologies for the productive features referred to in Annex IV of the NRR, i.e. productive trees in sustainable agroforestry systems, trees in extensive old orchards on permanent grassland, and productive elements in hedges.
The NRR Reference Portal includes a comprehensive set of guidelines, explanatory notes, background documents on typologies of measures and ecosystems, reference data and other materials to assist with the development and implementation of the National Restoration Plans. It is a living page which will be updated regularly with new content.
- The EEA has set up a dedicated NRR Helpdesk (nature [dot] restoration [dot] helpdeskeea [dot] europa [dot] eu (nature[dot]restoration[dot]helpdesk[at]eea[dot]europa[dot]eu)) to support Member States, and DG Environment services (ENV-BIODIVERSITYec [dot] europa [dot] eu (ENV-BIODIVERSITY[at]ec[dot]europa[dot]eu)) receive and reply to Member States’ and stakeholders’ questions related to NRP preparation. Replies are shared as Frequently Asked Questions, regularly updated on the NRR reference portal.
Upcoming:
- Capacity building for pollinator monitoring to support the implementation of the Delegated Act under Article 10
Technical helpdesk provided by the Commission’s Joint Research Centre, reinforcement of the training courses for surveyors under EPIC, software tools to facilitate filed survey (applications, species information database).
Governance
NRR Committee
The NRR Committee is set up under Article 24 NRR and assists the Commission with the adoption of implementing acts under the NRR. It is composed of Member States’ representatives.
- First meeting of the NRR Committee (25 November 2024)
- Second meeting of the NRR Committee (11 March 2025)
The focus of both meetings was the discussion of the draft implementing act establishing a uniform format for the national restoration plan, and its accompanying background documents. The vote and adoption of a positive opinion on the draft took place during the second meeting.
NRR Expert Group
The NRR Expert Group is a sub-group of the EU Biodiversity Platform dedicated to assisting the Commission in the implementation of the NRR. It is composed of representatives of Member States, public authorities and stakeholders.
The main topic of discussion in this first meeting of the expert group was the draft implementing act establishing a uniform format for the national restoration plan, and its accompanying background documents.
- Ad hoc meeting with Member States’ representatives (7 February 2025)
Discussion on the draft implementing act establishing a uniform format for the national restoration plan, in particular finance aspects.
The main topics of discussion of this second meeting were the finance report under Article 21(7) NRR and the Commission’s work on nature credits.
The main topic of discussion of this third meeting was the draft delegated act on a monitoring methodology for pollinators and the progress on the preparation of draft national restoration plans.
Main topics for discussion were the ongoing process of preparing National Restoration Plans and an initial outlook towards the NRP assessment process as well as other upcoming work for the group under the Regulation.
Other sub-groups of the EU Biodiversity Platform
The work of these groups focuses on the implementation of the Habitats and Birds Directives in general (NADEG) and the reporting provisions of these directives in particular (Reporting EG). In both groups regular updates on the NRR and subjects related to the Birds and the Habitats Directives are given.
- Marine Expert Group (MEG)
The work of the MEG focuses on the designation and management of marine Natura 2000 sites, promoting synergies between the Birds, Habitats and Marine Strategy Framework Directives, management of fishing and other human activities in accordance with the requirements of the nature directives, and exploiting synergies with the common fisheries policy and other relevant legislation, implementation of the Biodiversity Strategy for 2030 and the implementation of the Nature Restoration Regulation in the marine environment. The last meeting in March 2025 focused specifically on the NRR.
Ongoing technical discussions with Member State experts on the first stages of implementation of Article 8 of the NRR in relation to the urban targets. Four meetings held in 2025 so far, covering defining urban ecosystem areas and mapping and monitoring of urban green space and tree cover, including sharing of best practice and liaison with the European Environment Agency on data management.
WGP provides advice to the Commission and foster collaboration for the coherent implementation of the New Deal for Pollinators - the revised EU Pollinators Initiative and Article 10 of the Nature Restoration Regulation - as well as other EU policies relevant for pollinator conservation. It is composed of representatives of Member State authorities and public bodies and stakeholders with expertise in pollinators. WGP was instrumental in preparing the technical basis for the delegated regulation on pollinator monitoring required under NRR Article 10(2), which greatly facilitated the formal consultation in the NRR Expert Group.
- Ad hoc workshops on biodiversity finance
Ad hoc workshops are called upon to discuss finance-related or budgetary topics that would have an impact on biodiversity financing. They can also be used to present the state of play of regulatory requirements introduced by the Nature Restoration Regulation. They are composed of Member States authorities from both environment and finance ministries, as well as other EU stakeholders specialised in finance. In 2025, two meetings were held, notably to discuss the Article 21.7 of the Regulation and the Commission’s proposal for an EU budget 2028-2034.
This new group will provide advice and expertise to the Commission in the development, implementation and evaluation of EU biodiversity policy initiatives pertinent to forest ecosystems and their services, complementing the Forest and Forestry Stakeholder Platform and the Standing Forestry Committee. At the first meeting, held on 11 November 2025, close links to other groups such as the NRR EG and the draft work programme for 2026 were discussed.
Other groups
- Common Implementation Strategy (CIS) for the Water Framework Directive (WFD): composed of representatives of Member States and stakeholders, it works mainly on the implementation of the EU water legislation. Its scope grew beyond the WFD and its most recent mandate also includes freshwater aspects related to the NRR. In particular, its working group ECOSTAT produced a technical report, on criteria for identifying free-flowing river stretches. This methodological document can be used by Member States to fill in their NRPs as regards aspects related to article 9 of the NRR (rivers and floodplains).
- Common Implementation Strategy (CIS) for the Marine Strategy Framework Directive: composed of representatives of Member States and stakeholders, it works on the implementation of the Marine Strategy Framework Directive, through a number of working groups and technical groups, overseen by the Marine Strategy Coordination Group. As part of their work on MSFD implementation, experts continuously linked to other relevant EU policies and legislation, including the NRR, as required by the CIS Work Programme 2022-2027. Recently, the adoption of the NRR has led to presentations and discussions in the Working Group on Good Environmental Status, the Working Group on Measures and the Technical Group on Seafloor Integrity.