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Operations in Construction Projects
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OPERATIONS IN CONSTRUCTION PROJECTS

ARCTUROS is very active in all cases where important ecological habitats are altered or destroyed by large engineering projects (roads, dams, quarries, etc.), ensuring any negative impact is reduced, and the needs of the different species of wildlife are taken into account in the planning phase of civil construction works.

The intervention of ARCTUROS at the Council of State (CoS) resulted in the annulment of the Ministerial Decision on a new section of road Panagia - Grevena, and the review of the design of the Egnatia Odos section (National Motorway), in order to protect important habitat and ensure wildlife corridors for the bear and other large mammals in the region.

The annulment decision of the CoS resulted in the cooperation of ARCTUROS and National Motorway. A specific research programme has been implemented with the approval of the Greek State and entitled "Evaluation of the impact on the forest ecosystem (with emphasis on large mammals and the bear) of the construction and operation of the motorway section between Panagia - Grevena".

This research programme is due to run for six years, but the first two-year phase has already been implemented: establishing a baseline of the species populations and habitat prior to the building phase of the project. This phase involved ARCTUROS, National Motorway, scientific experts and two universities (Aristotle University and University of Thessaly). The programme has already resulted in an improvement of the technical characteristics of the project (to be more considerate of the environment), which should lead to the provision of 13.2 km of tunnels and 3.7 km of bridges for wildlife.

ARCTUROS also succeeded in improving the environmental impact of the construction of the Drama - Gotse Deltsev road, as the proposed route would threaten the continuity of the habitat of the brown bear in the area. Experts from the EU proposed the construction of a tunnel to ensure the protection and continuation of that habitat.