The project contributes significantly to a successful and long-term implementa-tion and safeguarding of habitat connectivity in Austria. In addition to the net-working function of habitat corridors, the aspect of how habitat corridors can also be used or adapted for the protection and improvement of insect diversity in Austria was addressed for the first time. Work package 1 is dedicated to the analysis of habitat features and landscape structures with regard to their qualitative (diversity) and quantitative (abun-dance) suitability for insects. The extrapolation of the results of work package 1 implemented in work pack-age 2 provides a first area-wide overview of the structural connectivity of habi-tat corridors in Austria and their suitability for the dispersal and protection of insect diversity. Work package 3 is dedicated to the development of a guideline for assessing the permeability of existing habitat corridors. With the definition of the most important indicators for the assessment of planned measures within the corri-dors, a standardised set of rules for nature conservation assessments is availa-ble for the first time, on which the leading experts in the field of habitat connec-tivity have agreed. Awareness-raising measures are an essential prerequisite for achieving the broadest possible acceptance of habitat connectivity among regional actors (e.g. farmers and landowners). This is the focus of work package 4. For a sustainable protection of the habitat corridors, it is essential to make the habitat corridors visible in an official national document. This issue is addressed in work package 5 by the implementation of a process that allows a widely auto-mated production of specific maps on the topic of habitat connectivity embed-ded in the Austrian forest development plan. A further milestone is the establishment of the “Coordination Platform for Habi-tat Connectivity in Austria” in work package 6, which consists of the most im-portant experts in the field of habitat connectivity in Austria. The objectives of the coordination platform are the regular exchange of experience, a unified and coherent representation of the actors in habitat connectivity and the promotion of the protection of habitat corridors in Austria.

In Switzerland, there are 304 wildlife corridors of supra-regional importance (as of 2020). They connect fragmented ecosystems or suitable habitats and are vital for wildlife. This is because roads and railways form insurmountable barriers for many wild animals. Both large wild animals such as deer and stags, medium-sized ones such as foxes and hares, and small ones such as amphibians or bats need to be able to move for food and reproduction. An assessment of wildlife corridors came to the following conclusion: 47 corridors (16%) are largely disrupted and can no longer be used by wildlife; over half (171 corridors, 56%) are significantly to severely impaired; less than a third (86 corridors, 28 %) can be classified as intact. Geodata information: In a first step, the known wildlife corridors were recorded canton by canton from existing data and potential corridors were identified using GIS and divided into wildlife corridors of supraregional, regional and local interest. Subsequently, the main features of the supraregional and regional network system were visualised for the whole of Switzerland. The corridors were then classified as wildlife corridors of supraregional or regional interest according to the importance of the axis on which they lie. The data for the connecting axes and wildlife corridors were recorded and processed in GIS by the Swiss Ornithological Institute Sempach. The supraregional corridors and the connecting axes were updated by the FOEN in 2012 on the basis of information provided by the cantonal hunting administrations.

Note on location accuracy: Data sets do not have area-specific delineations and are not suitable to be intersected with the cadastre. Designation of habitat axes in Carinthia. GIS-based modeling with subsequent validation and final designation of migration axes by the "Büro für Wildökologie und Forstwirtschaft"

LRVA-2022: Generated standard map representation of the special topic maps for ecological corridors in Austria for the forest development plan. The maps are automatically updated as soon as the data basis (=modification of ecological corridors or modification forest mask from the Federal Forest Research Centre /BFW) changes.

First of all, a GIS model was created, which aims to use a least-cost path algorithm to determine the general course of the corridors as precisely and in as much detail as possible. This is particularly necessary because the area under investigation, at more than 30,000km², covers more than a third of the total size of Austria - and thus could not be processed in a justifiable time frame on an expert basis alone. In a next step, the results of the GIS model will be used as a basis for further expert work. This offers the possibility to additionally take into account local particularities as well as findings from workshops, etc. This way, a result can be elaborated that can be used as a basis for the development of the GIS model. In this way, a result can be developed that is spatially accurate even at a scale of 1 : 10,000 - and not only in the bottlenecks. - ConNat-AT as Shapefile:ConNat-AT-KorrEngstKern-UTM-N33.zip Zip -File: complete dataset of all narrows, corridors and core areas in Austria (Esri Shapefile, EPSG 25833 (UTM N33, ETRS 1989)). Attributes: Name (designation), Cat (category: 1 core area, 2 corridor, 3 narrows), Info (link to further information), ESPrior (narrows priority: 0 no narrows, 1 primary narrows, 2 secondary narrows), Area (in ha). - ConNat-AT and Lower Austrian axes as shapefile:NOeWildKorrMittellinieEPSG25833.zip Zip file: Corridor axes in Lower Austria: ConNat and already existing axes from Lower Austria Atlas (Esri Shapefile, EPSG 25833 (UTM N33, ETRS 1989)). Attributes: Name (designation), SymbolID (0 international corridor, 1 supraregional corridor, 2 regional corridor), Buffer (radius in metres), LASTUPDATE (last change).

The specific designation of supra-regional migration corridors for larger, preferably forest-bound wildlife is intended to ensure, improve and, if necessary, restore the functionality of a statewide biotope and habitat network. For further information see: http://www.ooe-umweltanwaltschaft.at/xbcr/SID-B49D7CBE-852A8EF6/wildtierkorridore_ooe_2012.pdf

LRVA-2022: Current version of the integral dataset on habitat connectivity in Austria. This dataset takes into account all datasets and designations of habitat corridors from scientific projects and public sector projects (federal provinces). The dataset has been evaluated by the experts of the Cooridnation Platform "Habitat Connectivity Austria" and is updated as soon as new information and designations from projects are available. For further details: https://geonode.lebensraumvernetzung.at/documents/107/download

Expert designation of habitat corridors at local, regional and supraregional level. Client for the Pinzgau: Salzburg Provincial Government Department of Spatial Planning and Department of Nature Conservation, Salzburg Hunting Association, Pinzgau Regional Planning. Client for the Lungau, Pongau, Tennengau and Flachgau: Department of Spatial Planning and Department of Nature Conservation, Salzburg Hunting Association. Regional and supra-regional green corridors were included in the regional programs of the Pinzgau and decreed.

LRVA-2022: Guideline for assessing the permeability of corridors. This guide provides assistance for the assessment of potential disturbance sources and conflicts of objectives within ecological corridors and should subsequently lead to a standardisation of expert assessments in the field of nature conservation. The guide contains the most important definitions, such as the minimum widths of ecological corridors or which objects represent an absolute barrier within a corridor. The guidelines were agreed upon and approved by renowned experts in the field of ecological corridors who have joined together in the Coordination Platform for Ecological Corridors in Austria.

Austrian Ecological Corridors - final version. Valued by the experts of the federal provinces. Prepared in the framework of the LE project "Habitat connectivity to safeguard biodiversity in Austria".