The EU Nature Restoration Regulation establishes framework within which Member States shall put in place effective and area-based restoration measures with the aim to jointly cover, as a Union target, at least 20% of land areas and at least 20% of sea areas by 2030, and all ecosystems in need of restoration by 2050.

The use of models is expected to support national and EU competent authorities and stakeholders for the implementation of the EU Nature Restoration Regulation, in particular in the following areas:

• determination of the good conditions of habitats as defined in the Habitats directive and the good environmental status defined in the Marine strategic framework directive;
• establishment of threshold values for the favourable reference area for habitats and ecosystems covered by the EU Nature Restoration Regulation;
• estimate of ecological needs of species in terms of quantity and quality of their habitats and better understanding of links between habitats and ecosystems restoration and species conservation;
• better understanding of connectivity, functionality, ecological coherence of Natura 2000 network and marine reserve network and competing needs of species;
• analysis of restoration pathways proposed by competent authorities to achieve the short term (2030) and long term (2040-2050) targets of the EU biodiversity strategy for 2030 and the EU Nature Restoration Regulation for all ecosystem types.

To ensure a balanced portfolio, grants will be awarded to applications not only in order of ranking but at least also to one project within the area A that is the highest ranked, and one project highest ranked within the area B, provided that the applications attain all thresholds. Proposals must clearly indicate the area they are applying to.

Proposals should either address Area A: main focus on terrestrial ecosystems, or Area B: main focus on marine ecosystems. The area (A or B) should be clearly indicated on the application. For both areas, R&I activities should:

• develop a model as described above capable of simulating dynamic ecosystems processes, including interactions at different scale levels, based on literature review, available datasets or data-basis, realised restoration activities, on-going projects including demonstration cases, and existing guidance. The model should be able to estimate ecological reference values tailored to the specificity of ecosystems in different territories and in given contexts including under climate change, to assess proposed restoration pathways and to contribute to improve/expand other models;
• prioritise ecosystems corresponding to synergies identified between ecosystem restoration and one or several of the following areas: climate change mitigation, climate change adaptation, land degradation neutrality and disaster risk prevention;
• address data gaps with direct observation if needed;
• formulate practical guidelines or advice for practitioners about how to carry out restoration, including when dealing with invasive alien species;
• aim at improving and expanding models used for climate and land-use policies, by coupling modelling functionalities as described above.