Organisers
In October 2021, Kunming Declaration was adopted at the first part of the 15th meeting of the Conference of the Parties (COP15) to the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity (UN-CBD). The declaration clearly states that a key objective of the post-2020 global biodiversity framework is to reverse the current trend of biodiversity loss and ensure that biodiversity is on a path to recovery by 2030 at the latest, leading to the full realization of the 2050 vision of “People and Nature in Harmony”. In the same month, the second United Nations Global Conference on Sustainable Transport was held and called for “accelerating the development of green and low-carbon transport modes and strengthening green infrastructure”. Transportation and biodiversity conservation, as two different disciplines, are constantly coming across each other to achieve a common goal for more sustainable development of the world.
Asia has the largest population and transport infrastructure in the world. At the same time, it is extremely rich in biodiversity. The economic development of developing countries and regions in Asia urgently requires the construction and upgrading of transport infrastructure, while facing the major challenges and responsibilities of biodiversity conservation.
In December 2021, the Chinese Academy of Transportation Science of the Ministry of Transport of China (CATS), together with several national and international organizations, organized the first Asian Transportation Ecology Forum, with nearly 200 participants from 13 countries. Participants expressed the need for more such transnational, cross-regional, and interdisciplinary exchanges of knowledge, research and collaboration. Such effort will promote the mainstreaming of biodiversity conservation in the practice of construction and operation of transport infrastructure and will encourage the transport industries and conservation communities to work together to support the process of global sustainable development.
The Infrastructure and Ecology Network Europe (IENE) is the world’s largest and most experienced network of transport ecology experts with more than 450 members in over 50 countries worldwide. It is dedicated to bringing the world’s leading experts and to sharing knowledge and experience among countries and regions.
Based on the feedback from participants of the first Asian Transportation Ecology Forum, with the purpose to continue promoting exchanges and cooperation between people of the transport industry and the conservation community, CATS and IENE have decided to organize the first Asia-Europe Transportation Ecology Forum virtually on 12-13 October 2022.