Various offsets were carried out in 2021 on the A10 motorway development project. As one example, near Orléans in north-central France, several ponds have been created outside the construction site, and certain species impacted by the works have been relocated there. These offsets will be monitored over time to measure how the various species behave in their habitat. As a result of consultations under way, agreements are being signed with local residents and farmers to implement the offsets. At the Saugon Est rest area, north of Bordeaux on the A10 motorway, 700 trees were planted in partnership with the ONF to support local biodiversity. This step is the first stage of a larger environmental project, which will analyse the ecological and forest potential of about 20 areas on the VINCI Autoroutes network located along the A10, A11, A83, A87 and A837 motorways. These projects, in particular the A10 project, involve planting a total of 50,000 trees. As such, the Végétal local brand was selected to cover the planting of native botanical species adapted to the local environment, through farming contracts designed to protect small local businesses.
VINCI Concessions also spearheads many offset initiatives. LISEA has initiated a large-scale environmental mitigation programme in the region crossed by the South Europe Atlantic high-speed rail line (SEA HSL), more specifically to protect 223 species and implement 3,800 hectares of environmental and forest mitigation measures across 350 sites along the line (30% were acquired by LISEA and transferred to conservatories of natural areas, and 70% come under agreements with farmers or landowners). The monitoring committee met on 30 November 2021, taking the opportunity to discuss the considerable achievements made concerning the most recent restoration projects, site management, and monitoring of ecological performance. LISEA conducted 54 ecological monitoring surveys in 2021 and will publish reports of its findings on its website. This information is shared via the CompenSEA platform developed by LISEA, which enables government agencies and environmental organisations to view all environmental data, land cover details and maps in real time for each site. CompenSEA can also be used in scheduling maintenance and monitoring, and provides a clear picture of tasks.
In 2020, Vía 40 Express in Colombia planted 3,388 native trees as part of its environmental mitigation and reforestation programme.
Several VINCI companies implement voluntary offsets, either to address their residual carbon emissions, by planting trees or restoring wooded areas, or to contribute to the reforestation of degraded lands to benefit local populations. Experts support these initiatives to ensure that projects meet high environmental and social standards.
The Major Projects Division works with Reforest’Action to restore and create forests worldwide. As a result, 4,000 trees have been planted as part of three projects in countries where the division operates: in Colombia, to restore paramos and high Andean forests; in Côte d’Ivoire, to plant shade trees and train cocoa farmers in agroforestry techniques; and in France, to restore the Domaine de Chantilly forest.
VINCI Energies is working on projects to restore forest, and even ocean, environments for VINCI Energies International & Systems Spain (see paragraph 3.1.4, “Dialogue with stakeholders”, page 209). An e-learning programme was created to help teams choose projects adapted to regional ecological needs.
In 2021, VINCI Airports began financing forest carbon sink projects for its Lyon-Saint Exupéry and Lyon Bron airports via a local programme to restore areas affected by forest dieback. Other reforestation programmes are being deployed, for example in France, with Label Bas Carbone–certified projects, and at Guanacaste airport in Costa Rica, where airport employees planted native tree species in a tropical dry forest listed as a world heritage site for its exceptional biodiversity.
Environmental engineering has developed into a branch of engineering in its own right and can be applied to preserve natural environments based on the “avoid, reduce, compensate” approach, which has been implemented on a number of Group projects. VINCI has several companies specialised in ecological engineering, including Cognac TP, Sethy, Equo Vivo and VINCI Construction Maritime et Fluvial. These entities take measures to restore the ecological balance of land and environments affected by construction works, such as planting native species, combating invasive non-native species, restoring wetlands and waterways with diminished ecological functions, building fishways, and levelling weirs, etc.
VINCI Construction Maritime et Fluvial have restored ecological connectivity on several projects. In November 2021, the entity received the Kalisterre qualification, which is awarded to ecological engineering companies that operate worksites to high quality standards. For example, the work on the Risle river at Pont-Audemer was completed, to recreate conditions to facilitate fish migration by removing a weir, while integrating flood control systems. In addition, VINCI Construction Maritime et Fluvial developed banks along the Tancarville canal on behalf of Haropa Port, the new structure grouping the river and sea ports of Le Havre, Rouen and Paris, to improve the ecological qualities of the canal while permitting boat traffic.
Over the next four years, Cognac TP will carry out the complex rehabilitation of retention ponds on the road network in five administrative departments of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region in south-west France. This work is part of the local road authority’s efforts to preserve water resources by rehabilitating the collection and treatment structures for run-off water on its network. The contract covers the construction of temporary retention ponds and earthworks to enlarge permanent ponds. Protective structures such as fences, gates and guards will also be installed.
