There is much concern globally about the current and proposed massive investment in linear infrastructure development. An additional 25-million lane km of new roads will be built by 2050, and 90% of this will be in non-OECD countries, and railways, pipelines and powerlines are similarly expanding. Of significant concern is that many countries and regions lack the expertise, resources and experience to implement ecologically-friendly infrastructure development. Two challenges to achieving ecologically-sustainable linear infrastructure are a lack of knowledge of best practise and being risk averse – not wanting to be the ‘first’ to try something if it is expensive or if it is perceived as having a high risk of failure.
www.TransportEcology.info is a freely accessible resource for planners, designers, ecologists, engineers, funders, approvers and construction teams to incorporate best practise in their projects. Importantly, this site gives the same information to the general community, informing them of new initiatives and world’s best practise, thereby allowing them to genuinely participate in the decision-making process.
TransportEcology.info has three main components: (1) research summaries on latest findings in road ecology; (2) best practice information on how, when and where to avoid, minimise and mitigate impacts; and (3) mitigation case studies. Additional streams will be added as needed.
Research Summaries: will summarise peer-reviewed journal articles and reports using a blog-style approach. Research summaries ensure that the key findings of important research are visible and accessible to practitioners, and not hidden behind paywalls and scientific jargon. Research summaries are written in a conversational scientific style and ‘tell a story’ that practitioners who are planning, designing, building or managing linear infrastructure need to know. The summaries include links to the published research, allowing people to find and download the primary publications if interested.
Best practices: although there are many publications on the impacts of linear infrastructure and use and effectiveness of mitigation, there is comparatively little on how, when and where to mitigate. Researchers and practitioners will be invited to provide accessible information about methods that can be used to quantify the impacts of linear infrastructure and inform where, when and how to mitigate those impacts.
Mitigation Case Studies: are be written to ‘tell a story’, using a blended ‘conversational’ style and a ‘scientific’ style. The conversational style will ensure chapters are readable and understandable by laypeople. The scientific style will ensure the ‘story’ is reliable and evidence-based, and can include references to provide supporting information or evidence sources.