A LIFE Platform Meeting, held in Valencia (Spain) from 9-11 June 2026, brought together almost 100 marine restoration practitioners, representatives from the European Commission, national authorities and numerous EU-funded projects (LIFE, Horizon Europe, EU Mission Restore our Ocean and Waters) to exchange practical solutions for implementing the EU Nature Restoration Regulation. The event was organised by CINEA and hosted by Fundación Biodiversidad in collaboration with the LIFE INTEMARES project.

Restoration starts by reducing pressures

One of the clearest conclusions from the meeting was that restoring marine ecosystems begins with reducing the pressures that caused their degradation. Participants highlighted that restoration is unlikely to succeed unless these threats are first addressed. While completely removing every pressure is not always possible, reducing them to levels that allow natural recovery can significantly improve restoration outcomes.

Numerous projects presented practical solutions for tackling different pressures. LIFE DREAM showed how recovering abandoned, lost and discarded fishing gear from deep-water coral habitats can remove a major barrier to ecosystem recovery, while MPA-LIFE-IRELAND demonstrated how to manage the impacts of bottom trawling in offshore marine protected areas. LIFE MMS and LIFE OASIS also shared how improving environmental conditions for coastal benthic and pelagic species can support the recovery of degraded marine ecosystems.

Some projects also showcased innovative active restoration techniques for habitats where natural recovery is expected to be slow or in deep-sea environments. These ranged from restoring seagrass meadows through LIFE SeagrassRIAwild and kelp forests through LIFE ReeForest to pioneering methods for re-establishing cold-water and soft coral communities at depths of up to 1 000 metres through Horizon Europe REDRESS.

Participants also stressed that successful restoration depends on close collaboration with fishers, coastal communities and other stakeholders. LIFE ECOREST, for example, works with fishers to return accidentally caught deep-water corals to protected areas, while LIFE EU SHARKS engages local communities in the conservation of sharks and rays.

The Nature Restoration Regulation sets legally binding targets for Member States to restore degraded ecosystems, as part of the EU objective of implementing restoration measures on at least 20% of the EU’s land and sea areas by 2030.

As Member States prepare their National Nature Restoration Plans (NNRPs) to achieve these goals, many are expected to prioritise management, conservation and restoration within Natura 2 000 marine sites, complementing the EU Biodiversity Strategy’s ambition to strictly protect 10% of EU seas.

The LIFE Platform Meeting explored how practical experience from LIFE and other EU-funded projects can inform NNRPs ahead of the due deadline of September 2027 and how these restoration activities can also support the objectives of other EU regulations (e.g. EU Marine Strategy Framework Directive and Water Framework Directive).

By bringing together experts and stakeholders from across Europe, the LIFE Platform Meeting provided an excellent opportunity to advance discussions on the challenges and solutions for the implementation of the Nature Restoration Regulation in the marine environment.