Reconciliation ecology in practice: Legal and policy considerations when implementing temporary nature on undeveloped lands in the European Union

Abstract

Strict regulations, such as the EU Nature Directives, remain pivotal for halting the downward spiral for some protected species. In recent years, though, it has become clear that nature protection rules, are also generating perverse incentives, especially when rigidly applied to areas that have already been transformed by human use, such as agricultural land, quarries and port sites. With the arrival of novel incentive concepts, such as temporary nature in several EU Member States, an unprecedented window of opportunity exists to reframe current nature protection rules. Temporary nature fosters private landowners, ranchers and project developers to actively participate in the recovery of endangered species, also in urban and industrial environments. In return for allowing nature to develop on their undeveloped and vacant lands, the project developers are provided with the legal guarantee that they can still subsequently develop their lands at a later stage. These newly founded conservation policies, which are increasingly endorsed by stand out as striking illustrations of the recently emerged branch of reconciliation ecology, since they aim at increasing biodiversity by opting for win-win scenarios in human-dominated landscapes. It is concluded that a more reconciliatory approach towards nature conservation, which goes beyond the ambit of protected areas, can serve as a catalyst for biodiversity recovery across the wider landscape. Further research will need to underpin whether the ambitious presumptions with regard to these well-intentioned and innovative approaches to nature conservation are justified.