The ACEM Conference on Road Ecology, Transportation Infrastructure, and Wildlife Conservation was held on 3 August 2021 via an online Zoom conference. The conference’s welcoming address was presented by ACEM member Ir. Patrick Augustin, and the opening ceremony was conducted by the ACEM President, Ir. K. Sundraraj. The speakers included Dr. Wong Ee Phin, Dr. G. Balamurugan, Nadine Brigitte Ruppert, Rob Ament, Tony Clevenger, Dr. Christine Fletcher, Benoit Goossens, Jo Leen Yap, Dr. Rodney van der Ree, and Isabelle Lackman.
As a statement of the problem for this conference, Asia is home to some of the world’s most diverse and complex ecosystems, which provide natural capital, underpin economic vitality, and increase resilience to environmental change. Yet, much of Asia’s rich natural heritage is threatened by the rapid expansion of linear infrastructure (LI) development. Without proper safeguards, the ongoing and anticipated expansion of LI will further fragment vital habitats, impact biodiversity, and increase mortality. The conference attracted nearly sixty-seven participants. The presentations were:
- The Impact of Roads on Elephant Movements – Case Studies from Peninsular Malaysia
- Challenges in designing wildlife-friendly roads and railways in Malaysia
- Canopy bridges for gibbons: A network across Peninsular Malaysia
- Some preliminary findings from USAID’s Linear Infrastructure Safeguards in Asia (LISA) Project
- Highway expansion in Nepal Terai Arc Landscape: Biodiversity assessment and use of web-based tools
- Impacts of the Pan Borneo Highway on the megafauna in Sabah
- “Ah Lai’s Crossing”–Malaysia’s first urban canopy bridge to facilitate safe animal road crossings
- Using wildlife connectivity modelling to improve environmental impact assessments for road projects (co-authors Alex Lechner from Lincoln University and Maya Brennan Jacot from WSP Canada)
- Forests at a breaking point: reconnecting wildlife habitat in a mixed forest-agricultural landscape in the Kinabatangan, Malaysian Borneo
