IENE: Wall of Fame

Project awarded: GreenPlan Project

The GreenPlan project, led by the Norwegian Institute for Nature Research and funded by various Norwegian agencies, was recognised for its efforts in tackling biodiversity loss and habitat fragmentation. A key achievement is the creation of Norway’s first Ecological Network database, offering high-resolution connectivity maps for species like reindeer, moose, pollinators, and trees. These maps, which consider human impact, can guide sustainable land management. GreenPlan also developed tools for scenario analysis to predict the effects of climate and infrastructure changes, with over 100 simulations conducted. This project highlights the importance of combining technology and ecological science for sustainable planning.

For more information on the GreenPlan project and its resources, please visit the comprehensive database at https://connectivitymapskonnektivitetskart.nina.no.

Hildegard Meyer’s Achievements

Hildegard Meyer, an ecologist with WWF Central and Eastern Europe, was honoured for her nearly two decades of commitment to ecological connectivity. Throughout her career, Meyer has been involved in projects across various topics, from eco-tourism and protected area work to mitigating the impacts of linear transport infrastructure on wildlife. Her contribution to the leadership in three major Interreg projects—TRANSGREEN, ConnectGREEN, and SaveGREEN—has been pivotal in developing strategies to reduce the environmental impact of infrastructure on wildlife habitats.

LinkedIn: Hildegard Meyer

Lifetime Award to Hans Bekker

Award to Hans Bekker for his lifetime work reconciling wildlife and transport infrastructure, restoring ecological connectivity, and building a pan-European expert network. A graduate of Wageningen University, Hans worked for the Dutch Ministry of Transport, focusing on the impact of infrastructure on nature. He pioneered wildlife crossings in Europe, led the Dutch defragmentation project, and chaired the European COST 341 project on habitat fragmentation. As chair of IENE, he also represented it at ICOET in the USA. Hans continues to inspire cooperation between disciplines and countries in ecology and infrastructure.

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Project awarded: Concrete Shell Bridge AM2 Koralmbahn

The Austrian government is heavily investing in railway infrastructure, but the construction of new lines exacerbates landscape fragmentation. To counter this, a green bridge was built for the “Koralmbahn” railway line connecting Graz and Klagenfurt. The innovative method involved creating a concrete shell bridge over the tracks, addressing ecological issues related to linear infrastructure, such as landscape fragmentation and greenhouse gas emissions. This groundbreaking project, utilizing a resource-efficient and climate-friendly construction method, received recognition at the IENE 2022 conference.

Personal Award: Pr Antonio Mira

Pr Antonio Mira and the team from the University of Evora received a special award for the organisation of the IENE 2020 conference under the theme “LIFE LINES – Linear Infrastructure Networks with Ecological Solutions”.

Linkedin : Antonio Mira

Project Awarded: Habitat fragmentation caused by Transport Infrastructure Working Group

Established in 1999, this working group published various technical prescriptions that help to effectively prevent and mitigate habitat fragmentation throughout the entire infrastructure cycle. In addition, this working group also forms a platform for knowledge exchange and awareness raising.

Website : https://www.miteco.gob.es/es/biodiversidad/temas/ecosistemas-y-conectividad/conectividad-fragmentacion-de-habitats-y-restauracion/fragm_habitats_causa_transp.html

Personal award: Vaclav Hlavac

Vaclav Hlavac, from the Nature Conservation Agency of the Czech Republic was awarded by the IENE 2020 conference for his outstanding and personal commitment to mitigating the negative impacts of infrastructure on nature. He has succeeded in spreading the ideas of road ecology and, above all, in transforming these ideas into practical actions on the ground at national and European level.

Vaclav Hlavac works on the protection of endangered species (otters, birds of prey, etc.). During the last 10 years he has also been dealing with these issues: influence of traffic on wildlife, mortality of animals caused by traffic, and general landscape connectivity. He is one of the authors of the Czech manual on the permeability of motorways for wildlife, a co-author of the European manual “Wildlife and traffic” and many other publications and articles.

Project awarded: Brazilian project Anteaters and Highways

The Giant anteater, a vulnerable species, faces a critical threat in the Brazilian Cerrado biome. With over half of the Cerrado converted into agricultural lands and increasing road networks, road-related mortality poses a significant danger to Giant anteater populations. Dr. Arnaud Desbiez and the research team behind Giant armadillos have initiated Anteaters & Highways, a four-year project to study road interactions, assess impacts on behavior and population health, and develop guidelines to mitigate road mortality threats in the Cerrado

Lead : Dr. Desbiez, Conservation Project Manager for the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland, and his team of Brazilian field researchers have already pioneered Giant armadillo research in Brazil.
Website: https://www.giantanteater.org/

Personal award: Marleen Moelants

For her outstanding achievements and personal engagement concerning the mitigation of negative impacts of infrastructure on nature. She has very successfully spread the ideas of road ecology and especially transformed these ideas into practical actions at national as well as at European level. She has been an inspiration to many other European colleagues and exemplifies the importance of collaboration between road administrations and environmental agencies in her everyday work.

LinkedIn: Marleen Moelants

Project Awarded: The Handbook of Road Ecology

With a global coverage and beautifully done, the Handbook of Road Ecology connects current scientific knowledge and practical requirements to address the pressing issues of transportation infrastructure development. The book has 114 authors from over 25 countries. Rodney van der Ree and his co-editors Daniel Smith and Clara Grilo brought together the world’s leading researchers, academics, practitioners and transportation agency personnel to present the current status of the ecological sustainability of the linear infrastructure. The success of the book has been impressive and it is a very inspiring book that is attracting more people to the field of road ecology. It simply is by far the best book ever written in this field.”

Lead: Rodney van der Ree, Daniel J. Smith and Clara Grilo

Website : https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/book/10.1002/9781118568170

Personal award:Lars Nilsson 


For his personal commitment and extraordinary achievements concerning the mitigation of negative effects of transport infrastructure on nature and biodiversity. Apart from his important work concerning road ecology in Sweden he played a major and crucial role in the restart of IENE in 2009, as well as in the following years.

LinkedIn : Lars Nilsson

Project Awarded: Ecoduct Kempengrens

the ‘Kempengrens’ wildlife crossing has been built near the Belgian-Dutch border, a collaboration between the Flemish and Dutch governments. The ecoduct, spanning the E34 motorway, ensures safe passage for local fauna, minimizing the impact of road infrastructure on the ecosystem. The unique design, inspired by snakes’ movements, features arched walls and a diabolo-like structure, promoting integration with the natural surroundings. Constructed with reinforced, high-strength concrete, the ecoduct has a minimum width of 60 meters. The project required specific shuttering due to its unconventional design. Despite challenges, the E34 motorway remained open during construction.

Lead: Marleen Moelants

Website : https://www.willemen.be/en/project/ecoduct-kempengrens-mol

Personal award:Wendy Collinson

For her long-term commitment to road ecology and wildlife-traffic conflicts in South Africa, her achievements in communication, awareness raising and mitigation of the impact of traffic and roads on African wildlife.

Linkedin: Wendy Collinson

Personal award: Marguerite Trocmé

For her long-term commitment to reduce the environmen- tal impact of transportation infrastructure, for supporting colleagues, new ideas and projects and contributing funda- mentally to establish the state of the art in Switzerland.

Project awarded: Alpine Carpathian Corridor

The Alpine Carpathian Corridor constitutes a major migration route for wild animals and is today one of the most economically dynamic regions of Europe. Therefore the project aimed successfully to find solutions to allow land use for humans and wildlife in a transnational, multi-disciplinary and cross-sectoral approach.

Lead: Government of Lower Austria, Nature Protection Project Management: Weinviertel Management, Austria Daphne – Centre of Applied Ecology, Slovakia

Personal award: Djuro Huber

For the long-term commitment to reduce the environmental impact of transportation infrastructure, especially on large carnivores, for teaching students, sharing knowledge and supporting new ideas and projects in Croatia and Europe.

Project awarded: Landscape fragmentation in Europe report

The report “Landscape fragmentation in Europe” presents, for the first time, the extent of landscape fragmentation across an entire continent. It reveals the most relevant driving forces behind fragmentation, demonstrating that varying factors are relevant in different parts of Europe.

Lead: Prof. Dr. Jochen A.G. Jaeger and Dr. Luis F. Madriñán, Concordia University Montreal, Canada, Tomás Soukup, GISAT s.r.o., Czech Republic, Christian Schwick, Dei Geographen schwick+spichtig, Switzerland, Prof. Dr. Felix Kienast, Swiss Federal Research Institute for Forest, Switzerland.

Personal award: Carme Rossel

For her long-term commitment to improve the ecological impact of transportation infrastructure and traffic, for her support of colleagues and inspiring work in Europe and elsewhere in the name of the Infra Eco Network Europe.
LinkedIn: Carme Rossel

Project awarded: Mammal Research Institute, Polish Academy of Sciences

During the last decade, Poland was facing an exceptional situation due to rapid growing infrastructure development. Due to their extraordinary dedication the involved persons from the Mammal Research Institute at the Polish Academy of Sciences coped successfully with the wide range of problems that arise by developing large scale transport infrastructure in valuable natural areas and achieved sustainable solutions to prevent, minimize or mitigate detrimental impacts.

Lead: Prof. Włodzimierz Jędrzejewski – Mammal Research Institute PAS, Poland, Dr. Sabina Nowak – Association for Nature “Wolf”, Poland, Dr. Robert W. Mysłajek – Association for Nature “Wolf”, Poland, Krzysztof Niedziałkowski – Mammal Research Institute PAS, Poland, Dorota Ławreszuk – Mammal Research Institute PAS, Poland, Marcin Górny – Mammal Research Institute PAS, Poland

Personal Award : Hans Becker

For the protection of nature and biodiversity and the long-term commitment to improve the environmental impact of transportation infrastructure, supporting colleagues, new ideas and projects in Europe and other continents in the name of Infra Eco Network Europe