The 15th European Conference on Ecological Restoration (SERE2026), held from 24-28 August, brought together experts from research, policy and practice to exchange experience on how nature restoration can be delivered and scaled up. Wetlands, coastal and marine ecosystems featured prominently, alongside discussions on implementing Europe’s Nature Restoration Regulation and future national restoration plans.
The LIFE Programme had a strong presence at the conference with a stand and a session, highlighting how the projects are putting restoration into practice across different ecosystems.
From peatlands to the sea: restoration in practice
A dedicated LIFE session, ‘Restoring Europe’s Nature – Lessons and inspiration from LIFE projects across Europe’, gave five projects the opportunity to present practical restoration methods and lessons from implementation across different types of ecosystems.
The LIFE RestituO project presented its work restoring degraded peatlands in France’s Jura mountains, where drainage and other pressures have lowered water levels and turned some peatlands from carbon stores into sources of greenhouse-gas emissions. The project aims to rehabilitate 70 peatlands, restoring their natural hydrology and reducing emissions linked to their degradation.
The GrassLIFE2 project also shared its experiences in tackling the decline of semi-natural grasslands by restoring 1 260 hectares of priority grassland habitats across 11 Natura 2000 sites in Latvia. Alongside restoration, the project is testing management approaches and working with farmers to help ensure restored grasslands can be maintained over the longer term.
The journey then moved from land to water
The project Improve Aquatic LIFE explained how it is tackling restoration from rivers to the sea in southern Sweden. Its work includes over 500 actions, such as removing barriers to fish migration, restoring wetlands and river habitats, rebuilding coastal reefs and restoring eelgrass beds to support threatened aquatic species.
The DuneLIFE project shared lessons from restoring natural processes to coastal sand dunes in England. By removing invasive vegetation and recreating areas of open, moving sand, the project has worked to improve conditions for the specialised plants and animals that depend on dynamic dune habitats.
Finally, LIFE GOPROFOR-MED presented approaches for managing and restoring Mediterranean forest habitats, including measures that can reduce wildfire risk while improving the conservation of vulnerable ecosystems.
Sharing LIFE experience across Europe
SERE2026 took place just one week before Member States were due to submit their draft National Restoration Plans under the Nature Restoration Regulation (NRR). Implementing the plans was a central theme of the conference, with discussions focusing on how to translate restoration targets into measures that work across different ecosystems.
A recurring message at the event was the need for stronger links between researchers and practitioners as restoration scales up. Participants also highlighted the importance of combining scientific evidence with practical experience from those designing and delivering restoration on the ground.
LIFE RestituO Coordinator Emilie Calvar said the conference helped her update restoration and monitoring practices, while contacts with managers working in comparable environments had opened possibilities for “future cooperation and joint projects”.
Source: cinea.ec.europa.eu
