This document provides guidance for the analysis of connectivity focus areas, the identification of connecting elements in the landscape and the use of these structures by wildlife.

It therefore represents an evidence-based decision-making aid and source of information providing stakeholders, land managers, administration, policy makers, experts and communities with the tools and the knowledge which they need to ensure the availability of species migration and dispersal possibilities based on a qualitative assessment of habitats and connectivity structures.

The delivered Methodology is the output of two steps of the SaveGREEN project, dealing with the analysis of ecological connectivity.

In the first step, an analysis of the structural connectivity in the project’s pilot areas is described looking at the quality of habitats and their distribution, as well as available corridors and stepping-stones. Special attention was awarded to bottleneck situations.

In a second step, the analysis of the functionality of the corridors is outlined in order to assess the actual acceptance and utility of these corridors and connecting structures, like green bridges, wildlife underpasses and other crossing structures.

The focus of the developed monitoring approach lies on large and medium-sized mammals due to their wide range of distribution, which allows for the monitoring results gathered in the different pilot areas to be comparable to one another.

The obtained monitoring results should ideally show

• which corridors are actually being used by wildlife,
• which sections are not (yet) functional for wildlife migration,
• where migration axes are well structured and present appropriate landscape features,

where the landscape lacks suitable structures and therefore should be target areas for ecological enhancement.

• Ecological corridor
• GIS
• Green infrastructure
• Guidelines
• Methodology/tools
• State of the art
• Country
  • Austria
  • Bulgaria
  • Carpathians
  • Czech Republic
  • Hungary
  • Poland
  • Romania
  • Serbia
  • Slovakia
  • Ukraine
• Theme
  • Biodiversity
  • Ecological corridors
• Project
  • SaveGREEN
• Species
  • Birds
  • Insects
  • Large mammals
  • Medium-sized mammals
  • Reptiles and amphibians
  • Small-sized mammals
• Language
  • English