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Definitions For the purposes of this Regulation, the following definitions apply:

(1) ‘ecosystem’ means a dynamic complex of plant, animal, fungi and microorganism communities and their non-living environment, interacting as a functional unit, and includes habitat types, habitats of species and species populations;

(2) ‘habitat of a species’ means habitat of a species as defined in Article 1, point (f), of Directive 92/43/EEC;

(3) ‘restoration’ means the process of actively or passively assisting the recovery of an ecosystem in order to improve its structure and functions, with the aim of conserving or enhancing biodiversity and ecosystem resilience, through improving an area of a habitat type to good condition, re-establishing favourable reference area, and improving a habitat of a species to sufficient quality and quantity in accordance with Article 4(1), (2) and (3) and Article 5(1), (2) and (3), and meeting the targets and fulfilling the obligations under Articles 8 to 12, including reaching satisfactory levels for the indicators referred to in Articles 8 to 12;

(4) ‘good condition’ means, as regards an area of a habitat type, a state where the key characteristics of the habitat type, in particular its structure, functions and typical species or typical species composition reflect the high level of ecological integrity, stability and resilience necessary to ensure its long-term maintenance and thus contribute to reaching or maintaining favourable conservation status for a habitat, where the habitat type concerned is listed in Annex I to Directive 92/43/EEC, and, in marine ecosystems, contribute to achieving or maintaining good environmental status;

(5) ‘good environmental status’ means good environmental status as defined in Article 3, point (5), of Directive 2008/56/EC;

(6) ‘favourable conservation status for a habitat’ means favourable conservation status within the meaning of Article 1, point (e), of Directive 92/43/EEC;

(7) ‘favourable conservation status for a species’ means favourable conservation status within the meaning of Article 1, point (i), of Directive 92/43/EEC;

(8) ‘favourable reference area’ means the total area of a habitat type in a given biogeographical or marine region at national level that is considered the minimum necessary to ensure the long-term viability of the habitat type and its typical species or typical species composition, and all the significant ecological variations of that habitat type in its natural range, and which is composed of the current area of the habitat type and, if that area is not sufficient for the long-term viability of the habitat type and its typical species or typical species composition, the additional area necessary for the re-establishment of the habitat type; where the habitat type concerned is listed in Annex I to Directive 92/43/EEC, such re-establishment contributes to reaching favourable conservation status for a habitat and, in marine ecosystems, such re-establishment contributes to achieving or maintaining good environmental status;

(9) ‘sufficient quality of habitat’ means the quality of a habitat of a species which allows the ecological requirements of a species to be met at any stage of its biological cycle so that it is maintaining itself on a long-term basis as a viable component of its habitat in its natural range, contributing to reaching or maintaining favourable conservation status for a species listed in Annex II, IV or V to Directive 92/43/EEC and securing populations of wild bird species covered by Directive 2009/147/EC and, in addition, in marine ecosystems, contributing to achieving or maintaining good environmental status;

(10) ‘sufficient quantity of habitat’ means the quantity of a habitat of a species which allows the ecological requirements of a species to be met at any stage of its biological cycle so that it is maintaining itself on a long-term basis as a viable component of its habitat in its natural range, contributing to reaching or maintaining favourable conservation status for a species listed in Annex II, IV or V to Directive 92/43/EEC and securing populations of wild bird species covered by Directive 2009/147/EC and, in addition, in marine ecosystems, contributing to achieving or maintaining good environmental status;

(11) ‘very common and widespread habitat type’ means a habitat type that occurs in several biogeographical regions in the Union with a range exceeding 10 000 km2;

(12) ‘pollinator’ means a wild insect which transports pollen from the anther of a plant to the stigma of a plant, enabling fertilisation and the production of seeds;

(13) ‘decline of pollinator populations’ means a decrease in abundance or diversity, or both, of pollinators;

(14) ‘native tree species’ means a tree species occurring within its natural range, past or present, and dispersal potential, i.e. within the range it occupies naturally or could occupy without direct or indirect introduction or care by humans;

(15) ‘local administrative unit’ or ‘LAU’ means a low-level administrative division of a Member State, below that of a province, region or state, established in accordance with Article 4 of Regulation (EC) No 1059/2003 of the European Parliament and of the Council ;

(16) ‘urban centres’ and ‘urban clusters’ means territorial units classified in cities and towns and suburbs using the grid-based typology established in accordance with Article 4b(2) of Regulation (EC) No 1059/2003;

(17) ‘cities’ means LAUs where at least 50 % of the population lives in one or more urban centres, measured using the degree of urbanisation established in accordance with Article 4b(3), point (a), of Regulation (EC) No 1059/2003;

(18) ‘towns and suburbs’ means LAUs where less than 50 % of the population lives in an urban centre, but at least 50 % of the population lives in an urban cluster, measured using the degree of urbanisation established in accordance with Article 4b(3), point (a), of Regulation (EC) No 1059/2003;

(19) ‘peri-urban areas’ means areas adjacent to urban centres or urban clusters, including at least all areas within 1 kilometre measured from the outer limits of those urban centres or urban clusters, and located in the same city or the same town and suburb as those urban centres or urban clusters;

(20) ‘urban green space’ means the total area of trees, bushes, shrubs, permanent herbaceous vegetation, lichens and mosses, ponds and watercourses found within cities or towns and suburbs, calculated on the basis of data provided by the Copernicus Land Monitoring Service under the Copernicus component of the Union Space Programme, established by Regulation (EU) 2021/696, and, if available for the Member State concerned, other appropriate supplementary data provided by that Member State;

(21) ‘urban tree canopy cover’ means the total area of tree cover within cities and towns and suburbs, calculated on the basis of the Tree Cover Density data provided by the Copernicus Land Monitoring Service under the Copernicus component of the Union Space Programme, established by Regulation (EU) 2021/696, and, if available for the Member State concerned, other appropriate supplementary data provided by that Member State;

(22) ‘free-flowing river’ means a river or a stretch of river the longitudinal, lateral and vertical connectivity of which is not hindered by artificial structures forming a barrier and the natural functions of which are largely unaffected;

(23) ‘rewetting peatland’ means the process of changing a drained peat soil towards a wet peat soil;

(24) ‘renewables acceleration area’ means renewables acceleration area as defined in Article 2, point (9a), of Directive (EU) 2018/2001.