Mainstreaming ecological connectivity and wildlife needs in green road transport infrastructure planning in South Africa.

Launching green transport infrastructure is important for sustainable development frameworks and fosters sustainable land-use practices. Policy provisions promoting integrated sustainability in road infrastructure planning are critical and should incorporate biodiversity needs. We synthesised key existing South African policies for road infrastructure to assess their implementation and effectiveness in mainstreaming ecological connectivity in their framework of green transport planning. We have developed an analytical framework for advancing the sustainability of transport infrastructure and used it to review the policies. Furthermore, we used the Driving Forces-Pressures-State-Impacts-Responses (DPSIR) framework to examine and provide information on the drivers and pressures of transport expansion and poor mainstreaming of ecological connectivity in transportation planning in South Africa. Our results showed that the reviewed policies articulated sustainability elements for enhancing social and economic justice in the transportation sector. They had standards for developing road infrastructure that is climate change-resilient with reduced emissions but had no provisions for mainstreaming ecological connectivity for restoring key ecosystems and threatened species. The policies lacked clear sustainability standards and integration. The DPSIR analysis identified a lack of policy interventions promoting ecological connectivity among the pressures that accelerate transport-related biodiversity impacts. Furthermore, it provided planning responses for improving sustainable land-use planning for road development projects. We propose the integration and inclusion of biodiversity needs in transportation policy frameworks for promoting green transport infrastructure in South Africa. A comprehensive national ecological connectivity conservation strategy must be developed for linear infrastructure fragmented landscapes to promote integrated land use planning and ecological connectivity for wildlife.