Pathways for improving the consideration of ecological connectivity in environmental assessment: lessons from five case studies

ABSTRACT

Case studies can highlight opportunities for mainstreaming connectivity into environmental assessment (EA) and reveal relevant conditions for success or failure. We examined five cases from Canada, Spain, Sweden, and the UK to address three questions: (1) What are major challenges? (2) What are relevant opportunities and lessons learnt? (3) What research directions should be promoted? We identified 15 challenges and 19 lessons that can help improve connectivity consideration. Common challenges include i) late consideration; ii) lack of resources; iii) lack of explicit requirements; iv) lack of guidance; v) limited recognition of the importance of connectivity; and vi) absence of a landscape-scale perspective. Lessons learnt include the need for rooting connectivity assessments in scientific knowledge and for considering multiple scales of analysis. The findings revealed multiple pathways that can lead to inclusion of connectivity, such as the involvement of knowledgeable EA practitioners, and governments providing a supportive framework. The findings can be applied to advance connectivity assessments in EA, emphasizing the need for guidance and the role of cumulative effects assessment and strategic environmental assessment.

KEYWORDS:

• Biodiversity
• EIA
• habitat connectivity
• landscape fragmentation
• landscape connectivity
• movement

Acknowledgments

We warmly thank the Center for Large Landscape Conservation (CLLC) for providing funding to C.P. to support this project. We are also grateful for the contributions from the survey participants who generously provided additional information about case studies in support of this research, and to Anna Sandström in particular for case study 4 (Malmbanan). We cordially thank Enrique Rodríguez Álvarez (Acciona) and José A. González Carmona (Despeñaperros Natural Park) for useful information about the A4 Highway case study.

Disclosure statement

In accordance with Taylor & Francis policy and our ethical obligation as researchers, we are reporting that Mott MacDonald (M. Coroi, M. Hanson) was acting as environmental consultant to Heathrow Airports Limited, and C. Iglesias-Merchán participated as environmental technician in the A4 Highway environmental impact study and the construction project at AEPO Ingenieros Consultores (Acciona). The other authors declare no competing interests.

Additional information

Funding

C.P. received funding from the Center for Large Landscape Conservation, Bozeman, MT, USA. A.T. received funding from the Generalitat Valenciana (CIDEIG/2022/44) and the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation program under the Marie Sklodowska-Curie grant agreement no. 846474.