For the seventh time since 2003, the Infrastructure and Ecology Network Europe (IENE) held its International Conference from 12-14 January 2021 to bring together experts from across the disciplines of transportation, infrastructure, and ecology. Convened in a virtual format, the conference was hosted by the University of Évora in Portugal under the title LIFE LINES – Linear Infrastructure Networks with Ecological Solutions. With 300+ attendees, this year’s conference program included 45+ thematic sessions, side events, workshops, and trainings where participants focused on sharing experiences to make linear infrastructures planning and management more sustainable worldwide. As a contribution to discussions, the IUCN WCPA Connectivity Conservation Specialist Group (CCSG) with support of the Center for Large Landscape Conservation (CLLC) was involved in planning two events focused on advancing initiatives to contribute toward increasing awareness, collaboration, and action for more sustainable linear infrastructure that safeguards nature. This report provides a brief summary of the related events and subsequent outcomes.

Workshop: Advancing the Role of NGOs to Promote Wildlife-Friendly Infrastructure

On 12 January, the CCSG Transport Working Group collaborated with World Wildlife Fund-US to run the workshop Advancing the Role of NGOs to Promote Wildlife-Friendly Infrastructure. The event was premised on the fact that linear infrastructure – roads, railways, transmission lines, pipelines, canals, etc. – is a major cause of fragmentation and biodiversity loss around the world. In turn, a growing number of individuals and institutions have been collaborating informally, albeit not always in a coordinated manner, to provide solutions that can reverse this trend. Therefore, 28 participants came together at this workshop to discuss how particularly non-governmental organizations (NGOs) can play a more significant role in addressing the social, economic, cultural, and environmental effects of linear infrastructure.

The event began with NGO representatives shortly presenting their efforts to address infrastructure impacts to date. Participants heard varying perspectives from around the world that included the following speakers and topics:

  • Kate Newman (Vice President, Sustainable Infrastructure and Public Sector Initiatives, World Wildlife Fund-US) providing the welcome and introduction about past successes, current work, and future opportunities for increasing cooperation;
  • Rob Ament (Senior Conservationist, Center for Large Landscape Conservation) highlighting the role that NGOs play to promote more wildlife-friendly linear infrastructure in North America, especially wildlife overpasses and underpasses;
  • Wendy Collinson (Wildlife and Transport Programme Manager, Endangered Wildlife Trust) addressing how NGOs in Africa are increasing coordination to promote wildlife-friendly infrastructure; and
  • Hildegard Meyer (Project Manager, World Wildlife Fund-Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) underlining how NGOs are involved in sustainable infrastructure projects across the Danube-Carpathian region.

Public sector representatives then offered their perspectives on their experiences working with NGOs that included:

  • Yannick Autret (Directorate of Research and Innovation, French Ministry of Ecological and Solidarity Transition) focusing on the role of the French Research Foundation for Biodiversity created in 2008/2009 by different ministries and public institutions to coordinate public and private funding; and
  • Elke Hahn (Federal Ministry for Transport, Innovation and Technology, Department of Roads – Planning and Environment) emphasizing past and current experiences how NGOs are assisting government agencies to achieve more successful projects.

The workshop proceeded into breakout groups for more focused discussions to explore the challenges and opportunities that NGOs face when addressing the social, economic, cultural, and environmental issues associated with linear infrastructure development. This included a final task for each group to propose potential actions that could more effectively bring the NGO community together. As a result, the main opportunities that were identified for NGOs to contribute – where governments, academia, the private sector, etc. cannot – include:

  • Linking research to end users that creates a bridge between academics, policymakers, and society;
  • Working independently and without political influence;
  • Building relationships with local people and providing mediation and other services to governments;
  • Assisting transportation officials to solve environmental issues through increased cooperation and transparency; and
  • Serving as advocates that often have more ability to do so than other sectors.

Main challenges to NGOs identified by the workshop include:

  • They are not always engaged early enough in the development of projects to effectively participate in decision-making processes;
  • Government and ministry officials may not be compelled, nor do they always see the necessity to discuss projects with NGOs; and
  • Specialized information related to infrastructure development is not always made available to NGOs.

Toward the end of discussions, participants proposed the following potential actions to align and coordinate the NGO community:

  • Utilize funding programs to bring NGOs together across countries and regions;
  • Dismantle traditional silos between NGOs and other actors by talking to unlikely partners, identifying issues, and presenting solutions;
  • Improve collaboration among the NGO community;
  • Ensure future NGO communications that address a variety of public audiences; and
  • Identify avenues to increase NGO budgets to achieve better collaboration.

While participants approached these questions from their own unique experiences and backgrounds, it became abundantly clear that the NGO community requires a better way of collaborating among themselves and other sectors, which includes coordinating efforts and disseminating valuable knowledge. The organizers of the workshop commit to continue this conversation by further disseminating these workshop outcomes, devising a platform for interested parties to interact, and formulating actionable items to position the NGO community to better inform the implementation of more wildlife-friendly linear infrastructure. Interested collaborators are encouraged to contact the Transport Working Group at melissa@largelandscapes.org.

Workshop: Corridors and Crossings: Guidance for Connectivity Conservation Impacted by Linear Transportation

On 14 January, the CCSG Transport Working Group brought together 35+ participants to contribute to the workshop Corridors and Crossings: Guidance for Connectivity Conservation Impacted by Linear Transportation. This interactive session was organized to receive additional input to continue improving the current advanced draft manuscript of a publication tentatively titled ‘Addressing the impacts of linear transportation infrastructure on ecological connectivity’  expected to be published in the IUCN WCPA Technical Report Series in 2021. Above all, the goal of the publication is to serve an authoritative global source of information targeted at introducing the issues and available solutions to protected area managers and staff that face unique social, economic, cultural, and environmental contexts in and around the ecological networks where they work.

With a focus on roads, railways, and canals, the aim of the forthcoming guidance is to demonstrate multiple actions in policy, research, technology, and public involvement. These can in turn result in projects that protect ecological connectivity, serve the needs of local communities, and preserve essential ecosystem services, natural capital, and wildlife populations. This workshop was specifically designed to introduce participants to the rationale for preparing such guidance, the status of the manuscript and its key chapters, and to receive specific input to increase the geographic diversity and compelling messages that can be communicated via the case studies.

The workshop began with presentations from the Editors of the publication as follows:

  • Rob Ament (Senior Conservationist, Center for Large Landscape Conservation; Road Ecology Program Manager, Western Transportation Institute – Montana State University; and Co-Chair, Transport Working Group under the IUCN WCPA Connectivity Conservation Specialist Group) covered the following points:
    • An introduction to the IUCN WCPA-CCSG Transport Working Group (TWG) established in 2017 to focus on decreasing the impacts of linear transportation infrastructure (roads, railways, and canals) on ecological connectivity, including leading coordination of the guidance. Now with 110+ members on six continents, the group is mobilizing infrastructure ecologists, engineers, transportation planners, infrastructure financiers, and other interested parties to collaborate and provide scientific, technical, policy and finance expertise around the world. Additionally, species specific efforts are being undertaken by the subsidiary Asian Elephant Transport Working Group (AsETWG) in collaboration with the IUCN SSC Asian Elephant Specialist Group and region-specific efforts are focused on galvanizing experts in the Latin-American and Caribbean Transport Working Group (LACTWG).
    • The issues that the guidance seeks to address, including:
      • Infrastructure development being identified as a key driver of biodiversity loss (McCallum 2015; Butchart et al. 2010);
      • The estimation that roads fragment the terrestrial surface of the Earth into more than 600,000 patches (Ibisch et al., 2016);
      • The projection that road systems could increase by over 25 million lane-kilometers and rail systems by 300,000 track-kilometers by mid-century, with much of this expansion slated for developing countries (Dulac, 2013); and
      • The potential for infrastructure to contribute to economic and social development, but also environmental and social costs that must be better accounted for and balanced.
    • The mandate from IUCN to deal with such issues, including:
      • The WCPA approved mission for the TWG to “Serve as the hub of expertise and volunteer collaboration across disciplines and geographies to develop, demonstrate, and implement practical guidance, increase capacity-building, and provide technical support delivering state-of-the-art solutions to foremost avoid, and otherwise mitigate the impacts that linear transportation infrastructure has on the environment”; and
      • IUCN 2020 Members’ Assembly Resolution 086 – Wildlife-friendly linear infrastructure “Recognizing…preparation of guidance for connectivity conservation impacted by linear transportation infrastructure”.
    • The expected outcomes of the publication, such as to:
      • Increase the number, quality, and rate of more sustainable linear infrastructure projects that maintain, enhance, or restore ecological connectivity;
      • Decrease impacts on species and ecosystems, including barriers to wildlife movement and wildlife mortality especially due to collisions with vehicles and trains; and
      • Increase transportation safety from reduced collisions with wildlife by establishing best practices, recommendations, and principles.
  • Rodney van der Ree (Director and Principal Ecologist, Ecology & Infrastructure International; National Technical Executive – Ecology, WSP Australia Pty Limited; Co-Chair, Transport Working Group under the IUCN WCPA Connectivity Conservation Specialist Group; and Lead Author, Handbook of Road Ecology (2015) provided an overview of the key chapters that currently include:
    • Chapter 2: Basic principles and concepts: Impacts of Roads, Railways and Canals on Protected Areas and Ecological Connectivity
    • Chapter 3: Protected Areas at Risk: Importance and Vulnerability
    • Chapter 4: Planning and Policies to Improve the Sustainability of Linear Transportation Infrastructure
    • Chapter 5: Environment Impact Assessment for Linear Transportation Infrastructure that Affects Protected Areas, Ecological Connectivity, and Wildlife
    • Chapter 6: Public Participation
    • Chapter 7: Financing Safeguards for Linear Transportation Infrastructure
    • Chapter 8: Mitigation Measures to Maintain and Enhance Ecological Connectivity Across Roads, Railways and Canals
    • Chapter 9: Monitoring and Performance Evaluation
    • Chapter 10: Impacts of Construction, Operation and Maintenance of Linear Transportation Infrastructure Systems on Protected Areas and Ecological Connectivity
    • Annex 1: Road, Railway and Canal Typologies
    • Annex 2: Resources
  • Tony Clevenger (Senior Research Wildlife Biologist, Western Transportation Institute -Montana State University; Consultant, Center for Large Landscape Conservation; and Core Member, Latin American and Caribbean Transport Working Group under the IUCN WCPA Connectivity Conservation Specialist Group) led the main part of the workshop to facilitate an interactive discussion of the current case studies and proposals from all participants for new ideas, as well as people that could serve as contributors. When complete, there will be a large number of geographically diverse case studies focusing on the following topics:
    • Illustrating the witnessed and studied impacts of roads, railways, and canals on protected areas and ecological connectivity;
    • Providing examples of vehicle-wildlife collision issues in protected areas;
    • Emphasizing the importance of maintaining the integrity of protected and roadless areas;
    • Highlighting examples where avoidance of protected areas and severing ecological connectivity was successful;
    • Showing good examples of upstream planning and land-use planning approaches;
    • Showing poor examples of applying the mitigation hierarchy and how to do it better;
    • Providing good and bad examples of Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) processes;
    • Providing examples of good and bad approaches to public participation in projects;
    • Illustrating best practices used when funding projects, as well as mechanisms for influencing avoidance and mitigation measures;
    • Highlighting specific mitigation measures that have been applied to balance the needs of wildlife with development;
    • Providing examples of monitoring and evaluation of wildlife crossings undertaken before and after construction; and
    • Emphasizing best-practices when constructing linear transportation in or near protected areas.

In closing, workshop facilitators informed all participants of the upcoming online consultation for improving the publication that is planned to run throughout the months of February and March 2021. This consultation will be open to all those that attended the workshop and the 100+ members of the Transport Working Group. Furthermore, new contributors to the case studies are very welcome, and will be kindly acknowledged in the final publication. Any additional interested collaborators are encouraged to contact the Transport Working Group at melissa@largelandscapes.org.

Links to additional information about the conference and organizers can be found at these following links: