The proposed project has for main objective to essay, evaluate and disseminate practices directed at mitigation of negative effects from transport/energy infrastructures in wild fauna and simultaneously promote the creation, along them, of a demonstrative Green Infrastructure, based in corridors and stepping stones that can increment connectivity and improve conservation of local/regional biodiversity. Its target area is one of the main transport/energy corridors linking Portugal to Spain.

The project feeds from solid knowledge on existing fauna/flora in the project area, years of mortality data on existing linear infrastructures, and, from an unusual situation in the project’s socioeconomic setting, that of active participation of the several stakeholders dealing with the project’s problems and responsibilities to solve them (including builders/managers of linear infrastructures, public/private bodies, with local/national aims, supported by universities of publicly recognized value).

The proposed strategy is based on concepts that result from research of the coordinating beneficiary in the field of mapping landscape functional and structural connectivity, for the target fauna species, having into account their movements and habitat use/preferences. This will be used, for the first time, as a decision support tool with practical conservation aims.

To ensure its targets the project will solve a set of formerly identified problems including those of connectivity, mortality and barrier effects of transport infrastructures, mortality in power lines, absence of refuges and corridors, scarcity of publicly available decision support data and control of exotic flora.

This will be achieved through a set of conservation actions, designed under an integrated vision for the whole area, most of which with a demonstrative or innovative character. For proper evaluation of results, monitoring is also outlined, including ecological, ecosystem functioning and socioeconomic assessments. Expecting to conclude for its cost-efficacy, the project includes, from now, a set of dissemination, targeted at various audiences and including training of agents dealing with the lifecycle of infrastructures, technical seminars of European scope and networking. Overall, one expects replication of the project works, including the creation of analogous Green Infrastructures elsewhere, promoting connectivity and improving the delivery of associated ecosystem functions and services to society.

CESAM members on this project

Amadeu Mortágua Velho da Maia Soares
Researcher

António José Arsénia Nogueira
Researcher

Coordinator

Clara Grilo
Researcher

Fernando Manuel Raposo Morgado
Researcher

Joaquim Pedro Santos Mercês Ferreira
Researcher