"National Restoration Plans should explicitly incorporate robust measures to reduce pesticide use" (NGOs)

"We strongly recommend that National Restoration Plans explicitly incorporate robust measures to reduce pesticide use and enable the transition to sustainable agricultural systems", declared Beelife and PAN Europe in a joint policy brief, published on 01/04/2026.

According to the EU Nature Restoration Regulation, all Member States are required to submit their plans to the European Commission by 01/09/2026.

"Such measures would build a resilient and future-proof food system, enhance food safety and nutritional quality, mitigate the ongoing contamination of soils and waters, protect biodiversity, and safeguard human health, while directly advancing the core objective of the Nature Restoration Regulation".

The NGOs added that these co-benefits should be "fully recognised, systematically assessed, and actively supported through ambitious National Restoration Plans and coherent, aligned policy frameworks".

"Reducing the use of chemical pesticides is therefore not merely an environmental choice, but an indispensable condition for nature’s recovery and for the protection of life-support…