THE BENEFICIARIES
ITALY
AGRISTUDIO S.r.l.
Established in 1974, AGRISTUDIO SRL is an Italian consultancy company which specializes in the provision of consultancies, technical assistance and project management services for bilateral and multilateral funding agencies, governments and corporations in the following sectors: natural resources, environmental and territorial management; sustainable agriculture; integrated rural and social development; technical and socio-economic feasibility studies; training and extension; production of thematic cartography, GIS elaborations and field surveys.
Parco Nazionale d’Abruzzo, Lazio e Molise (PNALM)
The Abruzzo Lazio e Molise National Park is one of the oldest parks in Italy and was established by private initiative in 1922 with the aim of ensuring the conservation of the Apennine Chamois and the Marsican brown bear. The protected area has a total surface of round 50.000 ha and it hosts the presence of 60 species of mammals, 300 of birds, 40 of reptiles, amphibians, and fish, and several species of insects including important endemic species.
Parco Nazionale della Majella (PNM)
The Majella National Park, established in June 1995 has a total surface of round 75.000. The aim of the park Administration is to preserve the high naturalistic values present and to promote the sustainable development of human activities that are currently present inside the park boundaries unless they have a negative impact on the natural environment. The park contains many endemic plant species and most of the Italian endangered animal species, among which the brown bear, the wolf, the otter, wildcat, barn owl, golden eagle and many insect species.
The Province of Terni is the administrative body responsible for road management in Umbria Region, specifically implementing all the activities connected to the maintenance and management of roads, including road security issues and road kill prevention. The Terni Province has therefore been an associated beneficiary of the LIFE STRADE Project (LIFE11BIO/IT/072) and in the frame of this project has been a very active member in the development, testing and improving of the innovative Animal-Vehicle Prevention System.
SPAIN
Agencia de Medio Ambiente y Agua de Andalucía
The Agencia de Medio Ambiente y Agua de Andalucía is in charge with the management of natural resources in the Region of Andalucia, specifically it is responsible for the planning and management of geodiversity and biodiversity and the management of protected species of flora and fauna.
The Agency has a big experience in the development of LIFE projects since it has participated in several projects such as Iberlince (LIFE10NAT/E/000570), Posidonia (LIFE09NAT/E/000534), Los Tollos (LIFE09ENV/ES/000472), BioDehesa (LIFE11 BIO/ES/000726), ETAD (LIFE12 ENV/ES/000250), Conhabit (LIFE13 NAT/ES/000586), Esteparias (LIFE08NAT/E/68), Adaptamed (LIFE14CCA/ES/000612), Blue Nature (LIFE14CCM/ES/000957).
Consejería de Medio Ambiente y Ordenación del Territorio of Junta de Andalucía
The Consejería de Medio Ambiente y Ordenación del Territorio of Junta de Andalucía is responsible of wildlife conservation in Andalusia, of Natura2000 sites management, as well of wildlife legislation (Ley Orgánica 2/2007, de 19 de marzo).
This authority has been the coordinating beneficiary of three Life+ Projects were Iberian Lynx road kill prevention has been one of the objectives, and several actions have been made to achieve this goal: hot spots have been identified, nearly 80 Iberian Lynxes have been radio tagged offering a huge amount of data that have been use to develop risk models, new crossing structures have been made or existent structures have been adapted.
Minuartia
MINUARTIA is an environmental consultancy with more than 30 years of experience in management and conservation of fauna and biodiversity. One of its main topics of expertise is the research and mitigation of the impact of infrastructures on biodiversity. MINUARTIA participates in projects all over Europe, particularly related to roads, High Speed Railways and airports. It was part of the EU ‘COST 341 Project Habitat fragmentation due to Transportation Infrastructure’ and participated in the drafting of the first European Manual ‘Wildlife and Traffic. A handbook on identifying conflicts and designing solutions’. MINUARTIA was also member of the SAFEROAD- Safe Roads for Wildlife and People project in the framework of the CEDR Roads and Wildlife Research Project. Its team also has co-authored other technical prescriptions and manuals about infrastructures and biodiversity and develop Training Seminars on the topic. MINUARTIA is an active member of the INFRA ECO NETWORK EUROPE (IENE) expertise network on ecology and transportation. At present it is represented at the IENE Governance of Board, and leading the Working Group for updating the ‘Wildlife and Traffic’ Manual.
GREECE
CALLISTO Wildlife and Nature Conservation Society is an Environmental NGO (a civil, not-for-profit society), with long experience in the study, conservation and management of large carnivores (bear, wolf, lynx, jackal) in Greece, South Europe and the Balkans. Emphasis is given to projects aiming at the improvement of conditions for coexistence between human and large carnivores.
Mitigation of the impact of transport infrastructures (motorways, roads and railways) on large carnivores was the main subject of nine of the over 60 projects CALLISTO has implemented, including LIFE09 NAT/GR/000333, in the framework of which measures to prevent bear-vehicle collisions were implemented successfully in the segment of the Egnatia Highway and secondary roads of the district of Kastoria, W. Macedonia.
Cosmote mobile communications S.A.
COSMOTE Mobile Telecommunications S.A. was commercially launched in Apr/98 and since 2001 it has become the leading mobile telecommunications provider in Greece with more than 50% of the Greek subscribers’ base today (7.7m, Q1/17). COSMOTE is a member of OTE Group and a member of Deutsche Telekom Group (since Mar/09). OTE Group is the largest telecom provider in Greece, one of the leading telecom groups in SE Europe and by far the largest investor in telecom infrastructure in Greece.
Established in 1994, Egnatia Odos SA (EO SA) is a dynamic, innovative and reputable organization, responsible for the design, construction, operation and maintenance of one of the most complex and ambitious infrastructure projects in Greece, which consists of the Egnatia Motorway and its vertical axes.
EO SA has also been the project manager for programs concerning the monitoring of the status of big mammals along the motorway, as well as of the impact of the road on wildlife populations.
The Region of Western Macedonia was created with the Law 1622/1986 dividing the country in Regions. The region is based at Kozani and includes the Prefectures of Grevena, Kastoria, Kozani and Florina. It comprises 12 municipalities and along with the neighboring Epirus region it is supervised by the Ioannina-based Decentralized Administration of Epirus and Western Macedonia.
ROMANIA
The Carpathian Foundation is an NGO, founded in 1998, with the general mission of promoting wildlife research management and conservation. Its has vast experience in projects regarding biodiversity conservation, among which LIFE FOR BEAR (13NAT/RO/1154) “Conservation of Brown Bear (Ursus arctos) population in Romania”, which provides important baseline information for the LIFE SAFE-CROSSING Project.
National Institute of Forest Management and Research “Marin Dracea”
The National Institute of Forest Management and Research “Marin Dracea” (INCDS), formerly the Institute of Forest Management and Research (ICAS), is specialized in the research and implementation of technologies in the forestry and wildlife domain for preserving the national biodiversity. Over the last decades, the department of wildlife ecology and management of INCDS has expanded its research expertise to comprise also the field of large carnivores, and has implemented a big number of projects aiming at the monitoring of and the conservation of the Romanian Brown bear population.
The project is partially co-funded
