Short name: MINUARTIA
Country: Spain
Type of organisation: SME
www.minuartia.com/en/
MINUARTIA is a wildlife consultancy working internationally on the topic of biodiversity conservation and infrastructure development. The company has undertaken studies and projects on these areas during the last three decades working together with road, railway, airport and water management companies and government departments.
MINUARTIA has participated as a partner in several R+D+i projects together with universities and research centres as well as EU projects, such as COST341 Habitat fragmentation due to transportation infrastructures project and LIFE SAFE CROSSING project. Their staff is also involved in training and dissemination activities and has co-authored publications, including several guidelines; https://minuartia.com/en/publications/.
The main characteristics of the organisation related to the topics of biodiversity and infrastructures are:
• Expert technical staff including PhD biologists, forest engineers and other competences highly specialised in biodiversity conservation and infrastructures. They are involved both in design and operation of roads, railways and airports. The goal of their job is to enhance biodiversity while increasing safety by reducing animal-vehicle collisions and birdstrike risk in airports.
• Updated knowledge on the topic and international experience. Team members regularly assist to international conferences on Ecology and Transportation (IENE, ICOET and World Birdstrike Association Conferences). Several members of the team actively participate at the Infrastructure and Ecology Network Europe (IENE) activities. The team’s senior researchers have published papers, books, and book chapters on road ecology. They co-authored the ‘Wildlife and Traffic’ European Handbook, the ‘Handbook of Road Ecology’, the ‘Technical prescriptions for fauna passages and fence design’ and other guidelines about wildlife and habitat fragmentation.
Several member teams also give lectures and taught in several universities in Europe (Spain, Ireland and Portugal) and participated as invited speakers at the master ‘Wildlife management’, Measures to reduce impacts of roads and railways on wildlife and Wildlife hazard on airports at the National Pingtung University in Taiwan.
MINUARTIA has developed several international projects related to transport infrastructures (see the list below ‘Relevant projects’), mainly in Europe but also in Latinamerica (Costa Rica). First remarkable project was the coordination of the Spanish participation in the Action COST 341. Habitat Fragmentation due to transport infrastructure undertaken from 1998 to 2003 and after that providing technical assistance to the Spanish Ministry to continue the action. Other remarkable project where Minuartia undertook the coordination of a WP was the project SAFEROAD (Conference of European Directors of Roads), and other projects commissioned by Transport Infrastructure Ireland and Swedish Transport administrations related to production of guidelines and handbooks. At present we are also participating in a LIFE project, SAFECROSSING, together with other countries from the South of Europe.
Related to airports we have developed projects related to wildlife management commissioned by ICAO (as partners of Acciona) in Costa Rica, and by FRAPORT in 18 Greek airports.
• Quality and environmental policy. The company works according with the standards of quality and environment of ISO 9001:2015 and ISO 14001:2015.
