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.

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.

Querungsbauwerke entlang der Autobahnen und Schnellstraßen. Im Datensatz beinhaltet sind alle Querungsbauwerke welche eine Bauwerksbreite größer 30 Meter aufweisen (=Kategorie B: Breite die von Wildtieren bei der Querung der Infrastruktur genützt bzw. zur Verfügung steht) und noch eine wildökologische Funktion aufweisen (=durchlässig oder zumindest teildurchlässig sind). Des Weiteren sind vereinzelte Bauwerke der Kategorie C (15-30 Meter) und D (> 15 Meter) im Datensatz berücksichtigt. Diese werden jedoch nur in den Bereichen in denen der integrale Datensatz zur Lebensraumvernetzung in Österreich die Autobahnen und Schnellstraßen quert und kein höherwertiges Querungsbauwerk existiert. Die Querungsbauwerke wurden aus dem Datensatz der im Rahmen der Studie "Kontrollstudie zur Wilddurchlässigkeit auf Autobahnen und Schnellstraßen" aus dem Jahr 2018 erstellt wurde. Dieser wurde in noch einmal visuell kontrolliert. Daten-Download (Geopackage) unter: https://docs.umweltbundesamt.at/s/aKPt5nfeFWJe84q

Ausgewählte Wildtierquerungshilfen über die hochrangige Infrastruktur der ÖBB. Es sind im Viewing Service Wildtierquerungshilfen größer der Kategorie C verfügbar (=Querungsbreite der Bauwerke ist größer als 15 Meter). Bauwerke der Kategorie D und kleiner (>15m Querungsbreite) sind in diesem Viewing Service nicht verfügbar. Die Standorte der Querungsbauwerke stammen aus den GIS Datenbanken der ÖBB INFRA AG und wurden aus einer Kombination aus Vor-Ort Begehungen und der Vermessung via Satellitenbildern kategorisiert. Die Kategorisierung der Bauwerke erfolgte nach FRITZ Völk 2001: WILDQUERUNGSHILFEN ÜBER VERKEHRSTRÄGER – GRUNDLAGEN FÜR DIMENSIONIERUNG UND STANDORTSWAHL IN ÖSTERREICH • Kategorie A (Richtbreite 80 Meter – Mindestbreite 50 Meter) • Kategorie B (Richtbreite 50 Meter – Mindestbreite 30 Meter) • Kategorie C (Richtbreite 25 Meter – Mindestbreite 15 Meter) KEIN DOWNLOAD verfügbar. Anfragen bezüglich der Bereitstellung des Datensatzes als Download bitte direkt an die angeführten Kontakte.

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.

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

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: Evaluation of ecological corridor axes with regard to the permeability of sections of the ecological corridor. On the one hand, the landscape structure is assessed with regard to its permeability (LC structure index) and on the other hand, the landscape elements equipment of the ecological corridor segment (LE equipment index) is considered. The combination of these two indicators results in the combined ecological corridore index, which gives a good overview of ecological corridor areas with low permeability.

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".