» Projects: Environment

The abertis foundation encouraged a Biodiversity Action Plan (PAB) on the motorways run by acesa, responsible for the Nature Foundation, on the sections of the AP-7, AP-2 and C-32 motorways. It is a plan to preserve and improve the biodiversity of these infrastructures. The work consists of making an ecological catalogue to determine which kinds of habitats of vegetation and wildlife are found on the land through which these motorways pass. A detailed analysis was made on each section of all the service and rest areas. The result was a set of plans on a 1:5,000 scale which reflects all the plants present in each of them. In addition, profiles of the plant life were made at the most representative kilometres of each section to reflect the kind of existing habitats.

With the detailed analysis of all the service and rest areas and the profiles of plant life, we managed to achieve an exhaustive study of the entire flora present on these infrastructures as well as finding out about the level of biodiversity around the motorways.

The research proposed some actions to improve this biodiversity, such as boosting the local species in the management tasks and the maintenance and recovery of interesting habitats (the oak grove, the Mediterranean pine forests, the cork oaks, the riverbank vegetation, etc.). To protect the fauna in the surrounding areas we contemplated the planting of nutrient plants, the creation of ponds for amphibians, the installation of nesting boxes (swallows, bats, etc.) and the construction of "eco-crossings" to facilitate animals being able to pass over and under the motorways.