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CONTENTS
Infra Eco Network Europe (IENE)
Suggestions or contributions to the
bulletin
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e-bulletin · NOVEMBER 2004 · number
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The
Bases for Writing Handbooks and Technical Guidelines
What
makes a better amphibian passage, a circular one or a
rectangular one? Would a wild boar passage of 2m wide be
wide enough? Engineers that are in charge of
transportation infrastructure projects and technicians
involved in environmental impact evaluation are faced
with questions about the effectiveness of corrective
measures on a daily basis. Professionals who are
involved with biodiversity conservation are not the only
ones interested in these issues. More and more often we
see that safety is being compromised in many stretches
of roads or rail due to wild boar, roe deer or deer
collisions and means that experts must be consulted, who
can recommend which corrective and preventive measures
and actions should
be taken in order to reduce this risk.
In
1995, the Centro de Estudios y Experimentación de Obras
Públicas, of the Ministerio de Fomento, published
the first volume of a handbook that provided guidelines
on measures to be taken in order to reduce the barrier
effect on roads, and guidelines on reducing wildlife
mortality. Subsequently, in 1999, the Departament de
Medi Ambient of the Generalitat de Catalunya edited a new
document with recommendations on the issue. Late last
year, a new reference was edited. This was the European
handbook called Wildlife and Traffic, which was
created within the framework of the Action COST 341
project and agreed on by several experts from different
countries. This handbook, which will be available in
Spanish next year and is published by the Ministerio de
Medio Ambiente, is being used as starting point for a
preliminary investigation into wildlife passages and
perimeter fencings (see chapter on Working
Group).
Behind
all these recommendations is a team of scientists and
technicians from the Departamento de Ecología of the
Universidad Autónoma de Madrid and from the Departament
de Biologia Animal from the Universitat de Barcelona. The first
two manuals edited in Spain were shaped by them. The
team has been monitoring the performance of the measures
applied, and when these were not effective the team
would find out why that was.
We
know that different species have different needs:
for example, a good badger passage or otter passage is
completely different from the passages used by roe deer.
In order to distinguish what works from what doesn’t,
it is necessary to have field information available. The
monitoring of the effectiveness of the measures plays an
essential part in the design of wildlife passages which
are becoming more effective and with a better cost-benefit
ratio.
To
run well-designed monitoring programs should be an
investment for the future, but so far, it has not been a
widely used practice.
There have been a number of important monitoring
projects that have been carried out over several years,
the results of which have been published and presented
at conferences or workshops. However, it is not standard
practice to undertake programs to monitor applied
measures on new projects. On a more positive side, we
should be glad to see that more and more, projects have
a development plan lasting
a minimum of three years, and where the quality
of the measures and the correct installation of the
structures are being supervised. It is important to
guarantee that during this supervision, the most
adequate methods are being used. It is also important
that long term monitoring is included in order to obtain
better knowledge of the effect of the applied measures
on natural processes, and that the last step, which is
fundamental in achieving the objectives of the
monitoring proceeding, is being carried out. Furthermore,
results should be made widely available in order to
promote good practices which work, and thus avoiding the
need to implement measures that are proven to be
ineffective and that do not meet the objectives set.
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Road
Technical Regulations for the prevention of Habitat
Fragmentation.
The
handbook on preventing habitat fragmentation, COST
341. Wildlife and Traffic. A European Handbook for
Identifying Conflicts and Designing Solutions (2003),
is
a good starting point for planning the orientation
of the necessary Road Technical Regulations.
The
elaboration of these regulations should be a natural
outcome of this positive advance in the systemisation of
criteria. Even though there are still a lot of
unanswered questions about this next step, the starting
point for these regulations seems to be clear. Firstly,
it appears logical to employ preventive planning,
relying more on structural criteria which affect the
design and building of roads, rather than concentrating
all the effort on more or less effective corrective
measures. When designing
roads and removing soil, the habitat and its main
functional and territorial elements should be kept in
mind since to ignore them would put too much pressure on
the permeability and isolation measures. These
corrective measures should be applied as a last resort
and possible conflicts should be anticipated and solved
with an overall vision of the route the road will take.
In this way, the most conflictive situations would be
avoided, thanks to the flexibility of road projects,
which have an essentially linear nature.
Secondly,
these
technical regulations have to be incorporated into the
working process within the road project. This is a
linear infrastructure and its conception goes through
successive stages, from the analysis of necessities from
a strategic point of view (planning and previous studies),
to the achievement of a successful definition on a
working scale (construction of the project). The
criteria for the prevention of habitat fragmentation
should be able to approach the problems of each and all
different territorial scales, for which solutions are
being studied and suggested.
These
should
also be on a progressive scale, as with all the other
design criteria of the projects.
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Curiously,
this criteria is related to the previous one, since on a
larger territorial scale the worst e effects of fragmentation
can be prevented and can avoid, if possible, affecting the
most fragile areas. The definitive design of the elements of
the project can be justify for the most detailed scale. It is on
this last level where
the specific design of the permeability and isolation devices
would take place. |
Carme Rosell
(MINUARTIA) |
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An
intermediate level should solve the last adjustments of the
track and land volumes, thus broadly assessing the need of
devices and the different kinds there are. This in fact is how
things work in other areas of
design, such as the definition of structures and the
progressive design of drainage.
Thirdly,
technical regulations should be applied, stressing the need
for efficiency in management and application. There are many
questions on how to guarantee this efficiency. Many years of
road works have gone by now with attempts at trying to solve
the contrast between scientific environmental considerations
and scientific ecological criteria, and the need for malable
executive criteria that do not compromise the viability of the
values of the natural surroundings. The diversity of
situations and possible solutions should be typified by a
certain degree of generalization while no circumstance should
be justify unattended. It is essential to assume that there is
going to be a degree of discretion in the application of the
generic regulation contents, depending on the characteristics
of each case. At the same time, there should be technical
planning in place, in order to avoid too much time being spent
at the abstract stage by having inadmissible thresholds
established and undefined, and where it would be too easy to
end up working with the motto “everything goes”.
It
is also necessary to have a certain amount of technical
solutions that would allow the project manager to build
multiple options of the project, whilst giving clear
references on the efficiency of each solution. In this sense,
it is important to give criteria of reference that would work
on the safety side, overcoming the limitations that could
arise from imprecision or from lack of information.
Another
decision that should be taken is the degree of compliance that
the possible technical regulations require. There are many
considerations that have to be taken into account in
this area. To prevent habitat fragmentation on future roads or
to apply corrective measures on the existing ones should be
obligatory in all fields. This would be especially urgent
where there are high conservation values. It seems necessary
that an appraisal or at least some basic technical regulations
should be put in place. The availability of guidelines, a
technical handbook or some institutional recommendations would
allow for a greater flexibility in its application, thus
assuming a more facultative approach. The detail and precision
of the contents of the technical regulations would be
established according to the required degree introduced.
There
are a lot of unanswered questions on the development of the
preventive criteria on habitat fragmentation. Even though
there is still a long way to go, it seems that the direction
it is taking is promising.
Ignacio Español Echaniz
Teacher
of Landscape and Environmental Impact Studies
ETSI de
Caminos de Ciudad
Real
Universidad de Castilla-la Mancha |
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As
a result of this European project, several products have been
produced which are described in the previous bulletin. How to
purchase these products is stated below.
COST
341. Habitat Fragmentation and Transportation Infrastructures
in Spain
This
can be purchased at the Publicaciones del
Ministerio de Medio Ambiente.
COST
341. Wildlife and Traffic. A European Handbook for Identifying
Conflicts and Designing Solutions.
This can be requested here. A
Spanish translation will be available in 2005.
CD-ROM
that gathers all documents produced during Action COST 341. This
can be requested at
IENE
entity.
CD-ROM
with the programme of the closing event of Action COST 341. Obtainable
on the web site IENE.
Database. This
database contains bibliographic entries on habitat fragmentation and entries on applied measures to reduce habitat
fragmentation that occur in all participating countries
in the Action project. If you wish to send information
regarding the present situation in Spain to be incorporated
into the database, please fill in the
bibliography
and preventive
and corrective measures form, and send it
to habitats.transporte@mma.es. The database can be consulted
on the web site IENE.
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Editorial
Commission of Technical Instruction on Wildlife Passages and
Perimeter Fences
A
demand made by the technicians involved in the corrective
measures design of the barrier effect of roads and rails,
has been to move forward with the technical prescriptions
that are available in the European handbook COST
341. Wildlife and Traffic. The work of writing up the “Instrucción técnica de pasos de fauna y
vallados perimetrales” has been started with this aim.
The commission that was set up as a result of this necessity
is integrated in the Working Group of Habitat Fragmentation
Due to Transportation Infrastructures. This is made
up of technicians in public works
and technicians involved in environmental impact assessment
from different autonomic communities and by the Ministerio
de Medio Ambiente and Ministerio de Fomento. On the 21st
of October, the first meeting took place at the
Consejería de de Transportes del Gobierno de Navarra in
Pamplona.
During
the meeting, the outline of the main contents of the appraisal
and a draft of the contents of one chapter was agreed upon. Furthermore, the planning of
the work for the following months was clarified. It is anticipated that the first draft of the
appraisal will be available in March 2005, and will be
distributed amongst organizations and experts on the issue, so
their comments and suggestions can be taken into account and
included.
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Construction
of a Wildlife Passage for Lynx on the Road that Crosses Montes
de Toledo Zone and a Critical Area for the Species. |
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The
Puerto del Milagro road connects the locations of Ventas with
Peña
Aguilera (Toledo) and with El Molinillo (Ciudad Real). This is
just where the Cabañeros National Park starts. The road is 17
Km long, and crosses the area that is being promoted as
“Montes de Toledo” LIC and ZEPA. This area is also a
Critical Area for the Iberian Lynx, a specie that has deter- |
Consejería
de Medio Ambiente
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mined the number and the dimensions of the wildlife
passages on the road works fitting.
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This work was recently
carried out by the Consejería de Obras Públicas in collaboration
with the Consejería de Medio Ambiente, of the Junta
Castilla-La Mancha. 19
wildlife passages of different dimensions, from 2x2 m to 5x3
m, have been installed. It is hoped that these will be used by
the lynx and other carnivorous animals. A viaduct of 45m wide
has also been built as the best solution for the passage of
large vertebrates such as deer and wild boar.
The
road has been open to traffic this summer, and soon the
monitoring and surveillance plan will be in place. It is
expected that the results will allow conclusions to be
obtained which are applicable to similar areas of the
Comunidad Autónoma de Castilla-La Mancha, and other areas
where the distribution of this threatened feline is known.
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David Sánchez
Aragonés (Consejería de Medio Ambiente, Junta de Castilla-la
Mancha)
Laura Conde Ruiz
and Elena Izquierdo Ramos (TRAGSATEC) |
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Decrease
in the Number of Vertebrate Run Over After the Cutting of the
Vegetation that Grows on the Margins of the A-483 Road, at Doñana. |
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From
2001 to 2004, a monitoring scheme of vertebrate mortality has
been carried out between kilometre 27 and 40 of this road. In
1994, two wildlife passages,
4x2 m and 12 m long, were built in the stretches where
the greatest number of Iberian lynx were run over. A 2 m high
fence of simple torsion was also installed. By 2002, these
measures were complemented by auditory bands and road signs in
order to reduce the speed of the vehicles. The monitoring of
the passages questioned its usefulness for
individuals just passing or in dispersion. |
Francisco
Robles
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In
2001 and 2002, the highest number of vertebrates was
registered at kilometre 36 and 37. (22 and 25 deaths
respectively), coinciding with the wildlife passage
of the Soriana lagoon. This passage is flooded during
the rainy season. In 2003, the number of run over vertebrate
species was reduced to half (11), just after the cutting
and mowing
took place of the herbaceous and shrub-like vegetation
that grows on the margins, during December 2002 and
January 2003. During 2003, the registered collisions
were concentrated at those kilometric points where the
vegetation cover was highest, over 100 cm tall. Data
from 2004 to date, after treating the vegetation in
a similar manner to that commented above, confirms the
results obtained in 2003.
Francisco Robles, Parque Nacional de
Doñana
Georgina Álvarez, Dirección General para la
Biodiversidad, MIMAM |
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High
Chameleon Mortality Registered Due to the Lack of Maintenance
of the Autovía del Mediterráneo Fences. |
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Hundreds
of chameleons die every year on the Autovía del Mediterráneo
on the Málaga-Nerja stretch. In August 2003, over 500 of these
reptiles were found dead over a road distance of less than 30
kilometres, during a survey of a single day. It is surprising
to find that this road has wide lateral fences (plastic and
metallic ones) designed specifically to prevent chameleons
getting onto the roads. |
César Manuel Álvarez-Laó (SCV)
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These were installed during the
construction of the road,
but
the lack of maintenance (holes and some stretches badly
finished), have reduced their efficiency, a fact which can be
deduced from the number of registered animals that have been
run over. For several years, The Sociedad para la Conservación de los
Vertebrados- SCV has been monitoring this, and has been
demanding that action be taken. So far, no reply from any
Public Organism has been given.
The
SCV has also highlighted the problem
of the lack of maintenance of corrective measures that is
being carried out on other roads. This would be the case of
amphibian fences at the Regional Park of the Cuenca Alta del
Manzanares. These fences were vandalised several months ago,
and they have not been repaired since. There is a need for
more agile communication between conservationists and the
administration which would allow these problems to be solved
and mean that
correct measures and actions being taken would not end up
being completely inefficient due to the lack of maintenance.
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Javier
López Redondo/Sociedad
para la Conservación de los Vertebrados
(SCV) |
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Project of the Drawing Up of
the White Book on Transportation Infrastructures and Cultural
and Ecologically Sensitive Areas. |
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On
January 2004, the 1st International Conference on
Transportation Infrastructures and Protected Natural Areas
took place in Sevilla. This event was organised by the Colegio
de Ingenieros de Caminos, Canales y Puertos, the UICN and WWF/Adena.
Conclusions of this meeting were compiled in
the Acuerdo
de Sevilla and
in Recomendaciones
Transdisciplinares.
The
Junta de Andalucía, through its Consejería
de Obras Públicas y Transportes and Consejería de Medio
Ambiente, has moved forward on the implementation of such
conclusions. To achieve this, the two departments have worked
through the public company Gestión de Infraestructuras de
Andalucía S.A., to promoted the drawing up of the White Book
on Trasportation Infrastructures and Cultural and Ecologically
Sustainable Areas. This project counts on the contribution of
well known experts and technicians in the fields of
engineering, nature conservation and socio-economic
development, in public and private institutions
By
following the methodology used during the conference, where
the interdisciplinary work and participation was fundamental,
the White Book aims to become a handbook that would allow the
needs of roads to be harmonised with social and economical
needs, territorial equilibrium and the preservation of the
ecological and environmental characteristics of the area where
they are going to be implemented.
The
conclusions and recommendations emanating from the White Book
will be, taken into account by the Andalucia administration
and could be included as specifications on the different
regulations which affect construction and maintenance of roads
and the land that they cross, thereby, stressing the need for
monitoring the possible impacts that a road might have during
its lifetime.
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Consejería
de Obras Públicas y Transportes y Consejería de Medio Ambiente de la
Junta de Andalucía |
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Pioneer Proposal of an Ecoduct in the Urban Plan in the Metropolitan Area
of Barcelona. |
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Institut Cartogràfic de
Catalunya |
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The
Plan Parcial is being promoted by the Consorci Urbanístic del
Centre Direccional, made up of INCASOL (Institut Català del Sòl,
Generalitat de Catalunya) and of City Hall of Cerdanyola del
Vallès.
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Albert
Civit. Institut Català del Sòl, Departament de Política
Territorial i Obres Públiques, Generalitat de
Catalunya
Roser
Campeny, MINUARTIA Estudis
Ambientals |
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Fauna
Mortality on Roads, an Exhibition. |
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Ferran
Aguilar (MEDIAGRAPHIC) |
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“Així viuen, així moren” is designed to catch people’s
attention, and by using powerful images, it invites citizens
to get closer and to read the information attached to them.
The
exhibition can
be viewed at the different
civic centers in Tarragona, during November and December. The
entrance is free for educational
institutions and to non-governmental organisations.
This
event has been produced by the Caixa de Tarragona, organised
by Mediterrània CIE and carried out by Mediagraphic. The
texts are in Catalan.
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Ferran Aguilar,
MEDIAGRAPHIC
Txiqui López, Mediterrània
CIE |
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Seminar for Technicians on the Impact Assessment of Roads and Railways
and on Fauna Management.
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The
Departament de Medi Ambient i Habitatge of the
Generalitat de Catalunya is organising a lecture-practical
seminar for its technicians. This seminar is going to be
held in Barcelona from the 20th to the 23rd
of December. The seminar is aimed at broadening the
knowledge of the administration technicians involved in
methods to prevent or reduce the barrier effect and other
impacts on fauna due to transportation infrastructures.
During
the course, and using the European Handbook COST 341 Wildlife and Traffic,
information will be handed out about methods of
selecting the best spot to place a wildlife passage
and the technical prescriptions that the passage has to meet
depending on the species it is for. There will also be
information on other actions to take to prevent animals
crossing roads and to reduce mortality caused by traffic
accidents , as well as guidelines on preventing risks on the
road.
The
seminar includes a fieldwork visit where efficient applied
measures plus the most frequent mistakes on the installation
or construction of the measures will be seen.
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Antoni
Sorolla. Departament de Medi Ambient i Habitatge.
Generalitat de Catalunya
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Vertebrate
Mortality on Roads.
This
report is being distributed on a CD-ROM. It
has been written as a result of the Proyecto provisional de
seguimiento de la Mortalidad de Vertebrados en Carreteras (PMVC). These
are the results from the first monitoring carried out on
vertebrates run over on roads at a state level. This
was possible thanks to the hundreds of volunteers that worked
on it between 1990 and 1992.
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The
results on each kind of vertebrate and on each species are
presented. There is also a compilation of the black
spots where wild animals have been run over by vehicles
on the Spanish road network, as well as the incidence
of these accidents on road safety. It also includes
a large bibliographical collection where results with
other studies can be compared. One chapter is about
corrective measures that can be applied to reduce the
number of dead animals on roads. The CD-ROM can be requested
at the Sociedad
para la Conservación de los Vertebrados,
who edits the report, at the Apartado de Correos 270,
28220
Majadahonda (Madrid).
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1st Seminar: “Traffic Accidents Involving Wildlife: Who is
Responsible? Prevention, Safety and Responsibility. Possible
Solutions”. 18th of November, 2004. Madrid.
Organised by: Oficina Nacional de la Caza.
More
information at: info@oficinanacionalcaza.org
VII
Environmental National Congress. 22nd–26th November, 2004. Madrid. Organised by: Fundación CONAMA. Within
the congress framework, the Working Group Planning,
Construction and Infrastructure Sustainable Management
will meet. There will also be a workshop on Environmental
Restoration in Large infrastructure work.
More
information at: http://www.conama.es/
Infrastrutture
viarie e biodiversità. Impatti ambientali e soluzioni di
mitigazione
25th of November, 2004. Pisa (Italia). Organised by: Lega
Italiana Protezione Uccelli
More
information at: http://www.lipu.it
ECOSUD
2005. Fifth International Conference on Ecosystems and
Sustainable Development.
3rd-5th of May, 2005. Cádiz. Organised
by: Wessex Institute of Technology (United Kingdom),
Universidad de Cádiz and Universidad de Siena (Italy).
More
information at:
http://www.wessex.ac.uk/conferences/2005/eco05/index.html
ESA-INTECOL
2005 Joint Meeting: Ecology at Multiple Scales.
7th-12th of August, 2005. Montreal (Canada).
Organised by: International Association for Ecology (INTECOL)
and Ecological Society of America (ESA). There will be a
symposium on: Reducing habitat fragmentation by roads: A
comparison of measures and scales, within the conference
framework.
More
information at: http://www.intecol.net/;
http://www.esa.org
The
International Conference on Ecology & Transportation (ICOET).
29th of August – 2nd of September, 2005. San Diego, California (USA). Organised
by: California Department of Transportation and Road Ecology
Center.
More
information at: http://www.icoet.net/ICOET2005.html
Sustainable
Planning 2005. Second International Conference on Sustainable
Planning & Development. 12th-15th of September, 2005. Bologna
(Italia). Organised by: Wessex Institute of Technology (UK).
One of the topics of the conference will be on Environmental
Impact Assessments.
More
information at:
http://www.wessex.ac.uk/conferences/2005/spd05/index.html
World
Conference on Ecological Restoration. 12th-18th of September, 2005.
Zaragoza. Organised by: Society for Ecological Restoration
International (SERI) and Instituto Pirenaico de Ecología-CSIC.
More
information at: http://www.ser.org/content/2005Conference.asp
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This publication comes out every six months
within the framework of the Fragmentation Habitat Due to
Transportation Infrastructure Project. It is promoted by the Dirección General para la Biodiversidad
del Medio Ambiente. MINUARTIA,
Estudis Ambientals is
undertaking the technical administration of the project.
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To subscribe to the bulletin, please
send your personal details (name, organisation, address,
e-mail, telephone number and fax) to the following address
habitats.transporte@mma.es.
If you do not want to receive further issues of this bulletin
any more, please send a message under the subject “Unsubscribe”.
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The information in this bulletin
can be reproduced
and used, but for commercial purposes, and always
naming the source of information: Bulletin “Habitat Fragmentation
Due to Transportation Infrastructure” (Dirección General
para la Biodiversidad, Ministerio de Medio Ambiente, number
1, november 2004).
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