Restoring Nature: Implications for Biodiversity, Food Systems and Nutrition Status

More than 80 percent of habitats in Europe are in poor condition, endangering biodiversity. In response to this situation and in line with an ambitious agenda for green growth, the European Union is currently negotiating a Nature Restoration Law (NRL). The proposed regulation foresees recovery measures of the EU’s land and sea to restore degraded ecosystems by 2050. Among its various targets is the restoration of agricultural ecosystems to enhance biodiversity. 

Besides an expected positive impact on biodiversity, renaturation of agricultural land has potential implications for farmers’ livelihoods, food security and food prices. Consequently, the proposal and its targets on restoration of agricultural ecosystems have received strong resistance by the European People’s Party (EPP), the European Parliament single largest ideological faction, and farmers groups from various EU member states. In light of the upcoming European elections, several EU member states have recently turned against the proposal and it is currently uncertain whether the law will eventually be adopted. 

The policy process of the NRL is a prime example of a societal contestation of the EU’s green transformation agenda and represents a unique opportunity for interdisciplinary collaboration among biology, global/public health, political science, and sociology. 

The collaborative project brings together four disciplinary perspectives: 

• A political science perspective that studies the policy process and contestation of the NRL. It aims to identify opposing political actor coalitions and underlying conflict lines to enhance our understanding of drivers and barriers to transforming agri-food systems in the EU. 
• A sociologial perspective sheds light on food justice and how fair the transition of the agri-food system is for different segments of European societies. 
• A biological perspective aims to assess how policy measures to restore agricultural areas affect wild flora biodiversity.
• A global/public health perspective sheds light on biodiversity and nutritious food and how these may be linked to the nutrition status of individuals.

Project members

Dr. Simon Schaub (Heidelberg University / Institute of Political Science)

Prof. Dr. Jale Tosun (Heidelberg University / Institute of Political Science)

Prof. Dr. Marcus Koch (Heidelberg University / Center for Organismal Studies)

Prof. Dr. Renata Motta (Heidelberg University / Heidelberg Center for Ibero-American Studies)

Prof. Dr. Ina Danquah (Heidelberg University / Heidelberg Institute of Global Health)

Student assistant: Fabio Klevenz, B.A.