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PIARC (World Road Association), founded in 1909 and comprising 125 member governments from all over the world, is the global forum for exchange of knowledge and experience on roads, road transport policies and practices. With consultative status to the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations, the Association is contributing to a stable and sustainable global development of the road and transport sector.

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Coexisting with biodiversity

For road project developers, “biodiversity” is often synonymous with constraints, difficulties or even opposition to the implementation of projects. A century ago, however, the road sector witnessed the birth of road ecology, an applied science designed to formalise interactions between biodiversity and road transport and provide an objective basis for choices in this area. Given the similarity of numerous issues with other types of infrastructure such as railways, waterways and electricity transport, road ecology has since expanded to transport ecology. It has seen the birth of its own think-tanks and the structuring of scientific communities on all continents. Roads play a leading role here due to the inherent complexity of the various types of vehicles which travel upon them, the diversity of the territories that they cross and their openness to various interactions. Through a series of articles illustrating the most recent achievements and reflections, this special issue offers an overview of what transport ecology can bring to the road sector today and in the future. Its articles have been written by numerous European, African and American authors who are members of various international bodies (PIARC, ACLIE, IENE, etc.) and, in some cases, contributors to the recent Coordination and Support Action BISON (2021–2023), the first project funded by the European Commission to address the integration of biodiversity in the development and adaptation of transport infrastructure.

  • Information sheet

    • Date: 2023
    • Author(s): FRANCOIS Denis / DE BOUVILLE Julie
    • Domain(s): Environment
    • Type: RR398 - Features
    • PIARC Ref.: RR398-012
    • Number of pages: 1
  • This article has been published in the Routes/Roads magazine

    N° 398

    3e trimestre 2023 / Septembre

    Routes et biodiversité