NOTEE VA

Highways ecological footpring

Introduction

This method, developed to assess the ecological footprint of building projects, aims at:

• Objectively restore the state (maintenance, degradation and / or improvement) of the environmental quality (heritage and functions) using crossed indicators of natural and aquatic environments, between the state before and after the operation ;
• Integrate all the actions implemented by the developer, concerning biodiversity or water issues involved in its development ;
• Evaluate the infrastructure contribution (negative or positive) to the environment, using simple, quantifiable, measurable and renewable indicators ;
• Provide the Project Managers with a legible footprint: "geographic" and "compiled" data to return to the “bilan LOTI” of the infrastructure.

This tool will characterize the footprint of the development of the infrastructure on the homogeneous and functional ecological units crossed, at appropriate perimeters of analysis (perimeter of right-of-way and perimeter of territorial influence).
Quantitative indicators are privileged. They will be deducted from the data collected in inventories, initial and final. These indicators will be compiled into a database (spreadsheets) and mapped using the GIS tool.

Methodology

Our proposal is based on an analysis of the methods and tools already developed, in particular:

• the IQE (Ecological Quality Indicator) developed by Eurovia ;
• BioDi(V)Strict, developed by AgroParisTech in partnership with Vinci Construction ;
• Variways, developed by EGIS ;
• the Guide to the National Method for the Evaluation of Wetland Functions, published by the ONEMA in May, 2016 ;
• the guide to right environmental practices carried out by the AFB in 2017,
• the experimental method MERCIe developed by the UMR CEFE and published by the ONEMA in May, 2016, and whose development continues in collaboration with the ECO-MED design office.
• These existing methodologies have been mainly developed for surface development projects. Thus, some indicators do not properly fit to:
• the level of detail of the initial state and the data currently available for linear infrastructure projects (eg diversity of plant strata, diversity of micro-habitats);
• the linearity of the project, which gives it a transversal influence on the eco-territory (except for the MERCie method);
• the need to take into account all the measures "outside of the project" which are an integral part of the MOA’s actions for biodiversity (compensatory measures, accompanying measures, upgrades of standards).

The expected outputs and outcomes are:
Implementation of Excel spreadsheets of indicators (spreadsheets of “sources” indicators and indicators from "comparative dynamics") and associated "radar" diagrams which will translate the initial state, the project state and the overall result of the operation on the functional ecological units;
Production of a cartographic atlas for each indicator to point the footprint of the operation and the measures (before and after) on the water and natural environment. This result will qualify each mesh of the study area.