FROM PROTECTION TO RESTORATION: A NEW LEGAL PARADIGM FOR ENVIRONMENTAL LAW
FROM PROTECTION TO RESTORATION: A NEW LEGAL PARADIGM FOR ENVIRONMENTAL LAW

Summary/Abstract: Environmental law is currently undergoing a profound paradigmatic transformation, marked by the shift from a normative model centred exclusively on conservation and prohibition towards one oriented towards active reparation and ecological regeneration. This article offers a critical analysis of this conceptual transition, examining how contemporary legal instruments, from European Union regulations to constitutional case law in Latin America and Oceania, are reconfiguring the relationship between humankind and nature. The first part investigates the historical genesis of the protection paradigm, whose structural limitations have become evident as the biodiversity crisis has intensified and purely defensive approaches have relatively failed. The second part analyses the normative architecture of ecological restoration, focusing on the Nature Restoration Regulation adopted at European Union level, as well as on the institutional and economic difficulties that constrain its effective implementation. The third thematic section explores the philosophical and legal foundations of the new paradigm, namely the recognition of the rights of nature, the legal personhood conferred upon certain ecosystems, and the principle of intergenerational equity, which together construct a normative framework that transcends classical anthropocentrism. The conclusions articulate a nuanced position, according to which restoration should not be conceived as a substitute for protection, but rather as a complementary dimension, indispensable to coherent ecological governance. The study contributes to the specialist literature through an interdisciplinary synthesis that brings international environmental law, legal philosophy and recent case law into dialogue, offering useful reference points for researchers and practitioners interested in the contemporary reconfiguration of environmental law.

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