Galicia proposes law to protect degraded ecosystems for restoration
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Environmental organizations and local forest communities in Galicia, a region in Spain, submitted a legislative initiative to create a legal framework for protecting ecosystems undergoing restoration.
The group successfully collected the required signatures to bring the proposal to the Parlamento gallego. The initiative seeks to establish a specific legal status for areas damaged by forest fires, invasive species, or human activity.
Joám Evans, the director of Fundación Montescola, explains that current laws focus on preserving healthy areas but lack tools to protect the complex and costly process of repairing degraded land. The proposal aims to prevent these areas from being damaged again by other activities after restoration efforts have begun. If passed, the law would require binding restoration plans that include specific goals, monitoring indicators, and rules on permitted activities.
It also includes tax incentives and priority access to public funds to support long-term projects, such as removing invasive acacia trees from native forests. The proposal currently has support from several environmental groups and various local forest communities. The initiative aims to go beyond current European Union regulations, which target restoring 20% of land and marine areas by 2030 but do not provide specific legal protections for the restoration process itself.
Members of the Parlamento gallego will now vote on whether to consider the proposal before it enters the standard legislative process.
