Salzburg disputes EU nature restoration areas

Salzburg has yet to decide which areas it will report to the European Union under its nature restoration regulation, ORF reported. Member states must restore at least 20 percent of damaged areas by 2030 and, later, all threatened ecosystems.

Two proposals are currently under consideration for the areas to be reported by the end of the month: one from the federal government and another backed by seven Austrian states, including Salzburg. The Salzburg Chamber of Agriculture is urging the state government to support the federal proposal.

Marlene Svazek, the deputy governor responsible for nature conservation, rejects that proposal. She said the federal government was trying to postpone the problem by submitting data on areas whose current condition had not been assessed. Salzburg would therefore have to map the areas again, potentially identifying land where restoration was not currently expected.

Svazek said this could have consequences similar to those associated with European protected areas, requiring landowners to restore or protect their property. She said she would not take responsibility for that outcome.

Svazek said Salzburg was nevertheless willing to compromise if the federal government and the states held a joint meeting, explained its data clearly and guaranteed that the loss of agricultural land caused by restoration would be kept as low as possible.