News

During the last Alpine Conference in March 2011 the Alpine Convention officially nominated 8 pilot regions for ecological connectivity in the Alps.

The ECONNECT partners have now compiled their results in a series of publications. There are dedicated reports for ECONNECT's key target groups: all different kinds of stakeholders (final booklet), experts (synopsis, species reports, reports on legal barriers), policy makers (policy recommendations) and practitioners (implementation recommendations).

In order to analyse and visualize connectivity on an alpine-wide level as well as on a regional level for the seven Pilot Areas ECONNECT partners needed geographic data.

Real connectivity depends on a comprehensive planning process. The complex system of interactions and mechanisms in human societies calls for an analytic and comprehensive approach.

Besides classic communication tools such as newsletters and press releases ECONNECT used innovative tools to raise awareness among the general public and the stakeholders.

In ECONNECT's Pilot Regions a number of actions were implemented improving connectivity for selected species and habitats.

Many animals live in particular outside of protected areas; most persons are not aware of the importance of ecological networks; a functioning economy needs biodiversity. These are the most important findings of ECONNECT. The Alpine-wide project came to its end in November 2011 after a bit more than three years of work.

Under the umbrella of the ECONNECT project , during three years, 16 international partners worked towards extending and protecting the Alpine ecological network. The results of their work were presented in Berchtesgaden, Germany, from 26th to 28th September 2011.

On 8 March 2011 the Alpine Conference has officially recognised and rewarded eight Alpine regions - among which five Econnect pilot regions - for their exemplary work aiming at the creation of an alpine ecological network.

Within WP5 (barriers and corridors) of the Econnect Project a specific goal is the Connectivity Analysis of Riverine Landscapes (CARL) throughout the Alps. Recent activities were concentrated on the Alpine wide definition of riverine landscapes and the analysis of existing fragmentation.

Do you want to identify the ideal and priority surface to establish future connectivity measures? Then you can use the online tool JECAMI (Joint Ecological Continuum Analysing and Mapping Initiative-Web services).

The Hohe Tauern National Park hosts an international conference on protected areas and their role in ecological networks. On 3rd and 4th May 2011 current projects and initiatives on ecological connectivity in Europe, in the Alps and in the Hohe Tauern Pilot Region will be presented in Mallnitz/A.

In the Isère pilot region a new green bridge facilitates connectivity for terrestrial animals.

The "Saletbach" river could play an important role in the regional ecological network in the Pilot Region "Berchtesgaden-Salzburg". To reach this objective, Econnect is supporting the revitalisation of the Saletbach.

In December 2010 the city of Aosta/I hosted the final conference of the legal barriers work package. The project partners presented results of their researches on the legal barriers to ecological corridors through the Alps. They particularly underlined the specificity of each national, and even regional or local situation, and insisted on the great transversality of such an issue which refers to spatial planning, agriculture, transport, etc.

The pilot region Isère has published a guide presenting various experiences they led since ten years in different areas and the methods being used. The publication "Methodological guide of the hierarchical ecological networks - Ten years of experiments in Isère" is available in English and French.

In November the 3rd transnational meeting of Econnect partners took place in Bolzano. The main topics covered the status quo of technical work packages and the activities for the remaining lifetime of the project until August 2011.

The second international meeting of the pilot regions which proceeded in Dobbiaco/Toblach on April 22, 2010 bore its fruits. Indeed, the pilot regions adopted a common tool, entitled JECAMI (Joint Ecological Continuum Analysing and Mapping Initiative-Web services).

In the framework of the project "Paths of life" the pilot region Isère signed a contract with the motorway company to build a green bridge. Work will start before the end of the year.

Inside the Parco delle Groane, a protected area that extends at the foot of the Alps nearby the city of Milan, it was implemented an underpass for amphibians and small fauna that allows this small wildlife to cross safely the road that split the park in two.