As they design and operate infrastructure over the long term, concession companies can develop expertise and use their networks under concession for field surveys and educational initiatives. Six years after the initial feedback on the wildlife structures and monitoring, VINCI Autoroutes is working with the CNRS, LPO France and Cerema to continue analysing data from projects that monitor this new generation of wildlife crossings (green bridges, underpasses, and culverts with dry pathways or raised shelf structures, etc.). In 10 years, 126,000 pieces of data on crossings have been collected on the VINCI Autoroutes network and are now compiled into a robust database. This extraordinary resource will enable scientists to conduct unprecedented statistical analyses in order to better understand how wildlife uses these structures (location and connection with the environment, size, adaptation and learning time, specific structures, size of the animal populations in the vicinity, etc.) and optimise their functionality.
On top of initiatives to enhance ecological transparency, infrastructure managers work to reduce the impact of their operations on natural environments. In recent years, operators have changed how they manage their land to promote biodiversity. Among its targets for 2030, VINCI Autoroutes aims to apply extensive management systems to 100% of its motorway network, and to carry out 200 land rehabilitation projects along the land under concession. In 2021, motorway operator Granvia (Slovakia) set up the Wild Meadows project in partnership with the country’s Ministry of Transport, Construction and Regional Development, which will be monitored by a team of scientists from Comenius University. Through its Biodiversity Action Plan, London Gatwick airport manages 75 hectares of woodlands, grasslands and wetlands which are inhabited by a variety of species. The Sussex Biodiversity Record Centre (SxBRC) has registered more than 2,432 species of plants, fungi and animals in the area.
81%
reduction in the consumption of phytosanitary products at concessions between 2018 and 2021
The target to achieve zero use of phytosanitary products is shared by VINCI companies (excluding measures required under contracts or regulations). At VINCI Autoroutes, consumption of these products has fallen 95% since 2008. Now products are only used in areas with extremely limited accessibility or to treat certain invasive plant species. In 2021, 37 airports used no phytosanitary products, i.e. five more than in 2020. A reduction of just over 80% in the use of phytosanitary products (in litres) occurred between 2018 and 2021 for the Concessions business as a whole.
As companies in the Concessions business operate locally over long periods, a number of educational initiatives are implemented to support regional actors. At VINCI Railways, in 2021 LISEA launched the call for expression of interest, “Support local and sustainable farming”, from its Fonds SEA pour la transition des territoires, an organisation set up to drive transition in the region. More specifically, this campaign encourages projects that better integrate biodiversity and its preservation into farming practices, and that develop local sustainable and solidarity-based organic farming. On the VINCI Highways network in Greece, the forest fires that ravaged the country in the summer of 2021 damaged areas along the Athens–Patras motorway operated by Olympia Odos. The concession operator has consequently agreed to implement reforestation measures, via either natural regeneration or tree replanting, in collaboration with the Greek forest service.
Entities in the Concessions business also currently support several post-graduate research projects. For example, London Gatwick airport has funded research on bee foraging ecology and the conservation of solitary bees. As part of the advisory measures on the western Strasbourg bypass, several research projects (some of which are being sponsored by the construction consortium) cover protected species whose habitats are impacted by the project, including the European hamster and the southern damselfly.
On rest areas operated by VINCI Concessions or VINCI Autoroutes, several initiatives are taken to raise the awareness of users and schoolchildren about species conservation and natural environments. The Bird Protection League in the Occitanie region of south-west France and the VINCI Autoroutes Foundation ran an awareness campaign at the Pech Montat rest area on the A20 motorway south of Brive-la-Gaillarde, to teach users about the impact of littering on wildlife.
Eurovia France expects all of its quarries to have a voluntary biodiversity or water preservation action plan in place by 2030. As regulations require them to rehabilitate sites after operation is complete, quarries have acquired extensive ecological expertise. Actions are implemented voluntarily during the quarrying phase so that species and operating quarries can coexist. Working with local nature protection organisations, operators sometimes discontinue work in specific areas during nesting periods (e.g. in stockpiles colonised by bank swallows) or prevent wildlife from entering quarrying areas (e.g. using fences). Ecological management measures are taken in prairie areas to avoid mowing or to implement grazing strategies, which limit the impact of mowing on species. Some sites apply ecological engineering to recreate ponds or rock piles, which provide excellent habitats for animals. It is also worth noting that these initiatives are implemented over the long term during the operation of these sites. Measures and their effectiveness can therefore be monitored, which is often carried out voluntarily with conservation organisations.
Eurovia’s partnership with PatriNat, a collaborative research and education entity focusing on natural heritage (see paragraph 3.1.4, “Dialogue with stakeholders”, page 209), has resulted in a methodology used to analyse natural zoning and a study on the balance of plant and animal life at each site. Using this proactive approach, Eurovia sites can be mapped based on their natural environment and the species living there. Measures can then be determined to conserve and provide a favourable environment for new plant and animal species. Based on an Ecological Quality Indicator (IQE) designed by France’s Natural History Museum (MNHN), the method has been tested on about 30 quarries since the partnership was founded (on 160 sites in France).
