Ecological Solutions for Linear Infrastructure Networks: The key to green infrastructure development

The rapid expansion of linear infrastructure networks poses a global threat to biodiversity and ecosystem services (Laurance and Balmford 2013, van der Ree et al. 2015). Over the last few decades, research and careful planning have led to solutions which begin mitigating the negative effects of these infrastructures (Lesbarrères and Fahrig 2012, van der Grift et al. 2013, Rytwinski et al. 2016). Transport monitoring protocols and data are becoming more widely available, and novel actions are being tested and promoted (Vercayie and Herremans 2015, Schwartz et al. 2020). Robust protocols, landscape genetics, ecological connectivity modeling, remote sensing including GPS animal tracking, among other tools, are being frequently used in infrastructure planning and management (Balkenhol and Waits 2009, Carvalho et al. 2018, Valerio et al. 2020, Zeller et al. 2020, Shilling et al., 2020). The approach towards linear infrastructure planning is also transforming. Linear Infrastructure-related habitats are increasingly valued for the biodiversity conservation opportunity they provide and have become a key contributor to Green Infrastructure development (Dániel-Ferreira et al. 2020, Ouédraogo et al. 2020). There is also a growing awareness about the need for coexistence between infrastructure and biodiversity, and citizens participate in this process (Périquet et al. 2018, Waetjen and Shilling 2018). IENE (Infrastructure & Ecology Network Europe) is a network of experts on linear infrastructures (LI) and biodiversity from Europe and across the world. The main aim of IENE is to provide a platform to promote cross-boundary cooperation in research, mitigation and planning of LI (Seiler and Helldin 2015), facilitated by frequent national and international meetings. IENE organizes an international conference every two years, focusing on biodiversity and transportation (IENE 2021). These conferences provide a way to present innovative research, identity critical questions and problems, discuss ways to increase the efficiency of solutions, and improve the communication among decision makers, planners, and researchers. IENE is also a founding member of the Global Congress on Linear Infrastructure and Environment, which brings together experts from every continent to discuss globally important issues of the interaction between linear infrastructure and the environment. Furthermore, IENE, together with other international transport and ecology conference organizations, the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) and the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), has helped to develop The Global Strategy for Ecologically Sustainable Transport and other Linear Infrastructure, a strategy to support biodiversity conservation and enhance ecological connectivity at the governance, policies, planning and implementation stages of transport projects around the world (Georgiadis et al., 2020). The IENE2020 International Conference “LIFE LINES – Linear Infrastructure Networks with Ecological Solutions” aimed to improve environmental sustainability of infrastructure by bringing together and sharing the experiences of experts involved in the planning, research and administration of linear infrastructures around the world. The Conference focused on transportation infrastructures, but it also included other linear infrastructures such as electric power lines. The Conference was held online from 12 to 14 January 2021, and was organized by the University of Évora, LIFE LINES project (LIFE14 NAT/PT/001081 https://lifelines.uevora.pt/), and IENE. The Conference was attended by over 300 participants from 31 countries, representing different stakeholders including ecologists, road and linear infrastructure technicians, NGOs, and policymakers. Participations were highly diverse, with 197 presentations, 13 workshops and two side events (LIFE SAFE CROSSING workshop and LIFE LINES Final Seminar), covering several important topics such as: (1) Innovative Solutions for Linear Infrastructure Impact assessment, Mitigation and Monitoring; (2) Challenges and Opportunities for Infrastructure-Related Habitats; (3) Linear Infrastructure Ecology; (4) Citizen Science and the Involvement of Civil Society; and (5) Legislation and Policy (IENE 2020 Organising and Programme committees, 2021)

A Global Strategy for Ecologically Sustainable Transport and other Linear Infrastructure

The current Global Strategy for Ecologically Sustainable Transport and other Linear Infrastructure primarily sets up the objectives and principles for governments and organizations for mainstreaming biodiversity and ecological connectivity on transport infrastructure development. Additionally, it addresses the overall framework of stakeholders who must be engaged as key players in: • launching proactive policies, • establishing appropriate legal frameworks, • supporting better planning, • promoting multi-sector cooperation, and • encouraging innovative science-based solutions. We consider this as a living document as future versions may integrate additional elements with regards to governance, policy, and financing, in the attempt to develop a common comprehensive language and grounds for cooperation. This “Global Strategy” has been developed by an international working group coordinated by IENE and supported by an international coalition formed from the international conferences on transport and ecology and conservation organisations as IENE, ICOET, ANET, ACLIE, WWF and IUCN. The working group is drawn from global experts in transport and ecology and aims to work towards finding a ‘win-win’ solution for securing mainstreaming biodiversity and ecological connectivity and avoiding, mitigating, or compensating ecosystems’ fragmentation during transport infrastructure development or adaptation. This Strategy builds upon five years of development of the guidelines “International Guidance for Ecologically - Friendly Linear Infrastructure (IGELI)” initiated at the ICOET 2015 conference in North Carolina, USA. IGELI was an international debate with experts from all over the world continued during workshops held at the international conferences of IENE (Lyon, France, 2016 and Eindhoven, Holland, 2018), ICOET (Salt Lake City, USA, 2017 and Sacramento, USA, 2019), IUCN (Hawaii, USA, 2016) and ACLIE (Kruger National Park, South Africa, 2019). Summarising the Decision 14/3 on mainstreaming of biodiversity in the energy and mining, infrastructure, manufacturing, and processing sectors (CBD/ COP/DEC/14/3/30 November 2018) of 14th COP CBD (Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt, Nov 2018) (Convention on Biological Diversity 2018), the international coalition of the working group, initiated to promote the Strategy at the CBD COP 15 in China. We hope, this Strategy provides a useful tool and roadmap for promoting the urgent need of supporting biodiversity conservation and securing ecological connectivity at all scales of governance, policies, planning and implementation of transport projects internationally. The creation of an International Observatory for monitoring the fragmentation status globally as an important threat for biodiversity loss is proposed as a common ambition of the working group members and their organizations.IENE, ICOET, ANET, ACLIE, WWF, IUCN, WWF, WCPA, Connectivity Conservation Specialist Grou

Transdisciplinary deficit in large carnivore conservation funding in Europe

Achieving coexistence between humans and large carnivores in human-shaped landscapes is a complex challenge. Addressing this challenge requires the revaluation of the approaches academia uses to foster carnivore conservation and human-large carnivore coexistence. In this forum paper, we provide a brief overview of the three archetypical approaches of knowledge generation for large carnivore conservation in human dominated landscapes (disciplinary, interdisciplinary and emerging transdisciplinary approaches) and highlight the need for more explicit consideration of transdisciplinarity in large carnivore conservation funding. We refer to transdisciplinary deficit (TDD) for those situations when the context allows the implementation of transdisciplinarity but research and practice remains disciplinary or interdisciplinary. We identify drivers of this TDD and provide a brief overview of current and past conservation funding programmes at the European level in terms of their capacity to promote transdisciplinary approaches for large carnivore conservation. We show that current funding programmes favour sectorial and disciplinary approaches, resulting in low transdisciplinary substance in large carnivore conservation projects. TDD can be overcome by transforming the character of public funding towards multi-stakeholder collaboration, designing and nurturing effective communities of practice, and reducing co-financing rates for large, integrated projects

Rapid linear transport infrastructure development in the Carpathians: A major threat to the integrity of ecological connectivity for large carnivores

The development of sustainable transport is a key challenge in societies where there is an accelerated need for socio-economic development. This is the case for seven countries from central and south-eastern Europe that share the Carpathian Mountains. The challenge of developing sustainable transport requires transdisciplinary, or at least cross-sectoral cooperation, between the transport development and nature conservation sectors. Such cooperation is not in the culture of the Carpathian countries, which together host some of the most remarkable biodiversity values in Europe, including the largest populations of brown bear, grey wolf and Eurasian lynx. The overall length of motorways in these countries more than quintupled in the last 30 years and the rapid expansion of Linear Transport Infrastructure (LTI) continues at exacerbating rates. The rich biodiversity habitats are being fragmented and the concept of ecological connectivity is poorly understood and implemented by the national authorities. Ecological networks for large carnivores are not defined nor officially recognised in the Carpathian countries, with little exceptions. The legislation is not consistent across the strands of ecological connectivity and is not harmonised between the countries to effectively support transnational conservation efforts. Thus, the critical intersections between planned or even existing LTI and ecological corridors for large carnivores cannot be identified, in most cases leading to increasing habitat fragmentation and isolation of wildlife populations in the region. We summarised all this key context-related information for the Carpathians in relation to LTI development and ecological connectivity. To counteract this trend in the Carpathian ecoregion, we propose a set of recommendations to: improve and harmonise the legislation; develop and endorse methodologies for designating ecological corridors; address the cumulative impact on ecological connectivity; define other threats on landscape permeability; improve stakeholder engagement, cooperation and communication; develop comprehensive and transparent biodiversity and transport databases; monitor wildlife and transport for implementing most appropriate mitigation measures and strategies; build capacity to address the issue of sustainable transportation; and foster transnational cooperation and dialogue. Bringing these elements together will support the design of ecological networks in a way that considers the needs and location of both current and future habitats and contribute to efforts to address the climate crisis. These specific recommendations are relevant also for other areas of the world facing similar problems as the Carpathians