A new Alliance for Nature Restoration is launched in Spain to put ecological recovery at the centre of the public agenda
Press Release Date: March 3, 2026
Location: Madrid
Contact:
Natividad Sánchez | email: nsanchez@oceana.org | tel.: +34 687 598 529
- Around thirty social and environmental organisations are promoting a national alliance to strengthen nature restoration as a structural response to the ecological and climate crisis, and to push for an ambitious National Restoration Plan.
- The European Nature Restoration Regulation requires at least 20% of degraded ecosystems to be recovered by 2030; Spain must approve its National Restoration Plan before August 2026.
- The new alliance presents a tenpoint declaration setting out priorities to transform restoration into a structural state policy.
On the occasion of World Wildlife Day, around thirty social and environmental organisations have presented the Alliance for Nature Restoration at a decisive moment for addressing the climate, pollution, and biodiversity crises. This coalition was founded with an ambitious objective: to place ecological restoration at the core of public policy in Spain. Today the alliance is launching a tenpoint declaration containing its key proposals for achieving this goal and ensuring their implementation in the National Restoration Plan.
The presentation of this new Alliance for Nature Restoration takes place in a crucial national and European context. The European Nature Restoration Regulation, approved in 2024, requires Member States to restore at least 20% of terrestrial and marine areas by 2030, as well as to move towards the recovery of all degraded ecosystems by 2050. In Spain, according to data submitted by the Ministry for Ecological Transition, only 9% of habitats are currently in good condition. Under this regulation, Spain must approve its National Restoration Plan before the end of August 2026.
For the new alliance, this timeline makes the coming months a strategic period. The organisations involved argue that restoration cannot be limited to isolated projects or compensatory measures, but must be approached as a structural and crosscutting policy. Indeed, the aim is not to conceal degradation or justify new impacts, but to recover the functions and ecological processes of damaged ecosystems and remove the pressures that are harming them.
The coalition stresses that restoring nature requires tackling the root causes of the ecological crisis. This means rigorously applying the nondeterioration principle, protecting areas that are still in good condition, and preventing the “restoration” label from being used to legitimise actions incompatible with conservation objectives.
In a context marked by extreme weather events, food insecurity, shortages of fresh water and the spread of diseases, the alliance reminds us that healthy ecosystems are essential for health, safety, the economy and wellbeing. For this reason, the challenge is not only technical, but also political and cultural.
The alliance also highlights the potential of restoration as a driver of quality green jobs and rural revitalisation. In this regard, it calls for an assessment of the social and labour impacts of environmental degradation and for guarantees of just transition processes offering real alternatives to workers involved in activities with negative impacts on ecosystems.
Among its immediate priorities, the alliance aims to:
- Promote an ambitious National Restoration Plan aligned with Regulation (EU) 2024/1991, based on the best scientific evidence and on the effective elimination of harmful impacts.
- Integrate restoration into sectoral policies and territorial and marine planning, connecting national frameworks with local realities.
- Foster a culture of ecological restoration through awareness-raising, environmental education, and the generation of shared knowledge.
- Eliminate subsidies that encourage environmental degradation and redirect public resources towards activities compatible with the goals of ecological recovery.
- Ensure the application of the nondeterioration principle as an essential condition for lasting improvements in ecosystems.
Over the coming months, the alliance will focus its efforts on influencing the preparation of the National Restoration Plan and developing concrete proposals that can be translated into real ontheground action.
Through its launch, the organisations involved seek to consolidate a culture of ecological restoration in Spain, based on inter-generational responsibility and the conviction that nature recovery is indispensable for present and future wellbeing.
The European organisations BirdLife Europe and Central Asia, the European Environmental Bureau (EEB), and WWF form the European Restore Nature alliance, which has been working for five years alongside other organisations, such as Oceana and Friends of the Earth, to ensure that the Nature Restoration Regulation guarantees the conservation of biodiversity. The need and obligation for each Member State to present its national plan have driven the creation of this alliance, which brings together more Spanish entities to ensure that the draft submitted includes as many voices and contributions as possible and matches the level of ambition required.
The Alliance for Nature Restoration is composed by AEMS Ríos Con Vida, Aliança per l’Aigua, Amigas de la Tierra, Asociación Española de Educación Ambiental, Asociación Galega de Custodia do Territorio, Barrios por el Clima, Bluewave Alliance, CCOO, CIREF, ClientEarth, Ecologistas en Acción, Equilibrio Marino, Fridays For Future, Fundación Entretantos, Fundación FIRE, Fundación Global Nature, Fundación Internacional para la Restauración de Ecosistemas (FIRE), Fundación Marilles, Fundación Montescola, Fundación Nueva Cultura del Agua, Fundación Oso Pardo, Fundación SAVIA, Fundación Trashumancia, Greenpeace España, Grup Balear d’Ornitologia i Defensa de la Naturalesa – Mallorca, Grup Balear d’Ornitologia i Defensa de la Naturalesa – Menorca, Grup d’Estudis de la Naturalesa de la Naturalesa de les Pitiüses – Grup Balear d’Ornitologia i Defensa de la Naturalesa Eivissa, OceanCare, Oceana, SEO/BirdLife, UGT and WWF.
