2023 UNIVERSAL REGISTRATION DOCUMENT

Wildlife crossings and fenced sections on the motorways of VINCI Autoroutes companies

With the help of the firm I Care & Consult, VINCI Autoroutes is developing a biodiversity footprint tracking system to measure the impact of the presence, use, operation, maintenance and development of existing infrastructure. The system also takes into account all related services such as distribution and food management at service areas. The initial results show that the infrastructure’s fragmentation of habitats, the direct impacts of motorway traffic (noise, contribution to climate change and pollution), and the agrifood model at the rest and service areas have an equivalent impact on biodiversity. This calculation gives meaning to the action plans and serves to align efforts with impacts identified. From a strategic point of view, it also ensures that all the necessary measures have been taken to reduce the impact on biodiversity and implement land rehabilitation solutions.

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 (500 hectares by 2030), under a partnership with the French National Forest Office (ONF), along the land under concession. When vendor agreements are renewed for service areas, VINCI Autoroutes uses Biodi(V) strict® methodology to assess whether the applicant’s plan will improve, maintain or degrade the site’s natural areas. Developed by VINCI and AgroParisTech and operated by Urbalia, Biodi(V)strict® is the first predictive tool used to measure the biodiversity potential of urban construction projects. It assesses the services provided by type (e.g. natural water retention and urban cool islands) and informs urban development projects about biodiversity preservation. Applicants are required to ensure either improvements or the lack of further degradation in relation to at least three of the five ecological functions studied. To combat deforestation, the VINCI Autoroutes Foundation launched a campaign in the summer of 2023 to encourage users to stop throwing cigarette butts out of their car window. Staff members took up this cause by travelling to service and rest areas to meet with users in order to provide information and raise awareness.

The zero phytosanitary products target is shared by VINCI companies (excluding measures required under contracts or regulations). At VINCI Autoroutes, consumption of these products has fallen by more than 99% since 2008. Now products are only used in areas with extremely limited accessibility or to treat certain invasive plant species. In 2023, 49 out of 54 airports in the consolidated scope of VINCI Airports met the zero phytosanitary products target, i.e. eight more than in 2022. A reduction of just over 73% in the use of phytosanitary products (in litres) occurred between 2018 and 2023 for the Concessions business as a whole.

• Preserving biodiversity in quarries

VINCI Construction’s Road France Division expects all of its quarries to have a voluntary biodiversity or water preservation action plan in place by 2030. The implementation of advanced biodiversity preservation measures is a firmly established practice at quarry sites. As regulations require them to rehabilitate sites after operation is complete, quarries have acquired extensive ecological expertise, especially in environment dynamics. Actions have begun to be 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 or add elements to their sites to prevent wildlife from entering quarrying areas (e.g. 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.

The partnership with PatriNat, a collaborative research and education entity focusing on natural heritage (see paragraph 3.1.5, “Dialogue with stakeholders”, page 232), 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, VINCI Construction’s quarry 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 National Museum of Natural History (MNHN), the method has been tested on about 30 quarries since the partnership was founded (on 160 sites in France). VINCI Construction’s existing fauna and flora data have also been centralised and analysed to expand the national databases.

VINCI Construction’s biodiversity indicators specific to quarries