Life Elia

After 6.5 years of LIFE project, this conference is the occasion to show the genesis of the project, the actions carried out and also the very positive interactions set up with the various partners. A few weeks before the end of the LIFE project, a first symposium took place in Namur on November 22nd 2017. This is the first of three conferences, this event provided an opportunity to present the broad outlines of the project to a very diverse audience: administration, consultancy offices, universities, naturalists, etc. Two other symposiums will be held in Brussels on December 5th 2017 and in Paris on December 20th.

Procceedings of this conference are available in French at : http://www.life-elia.eu/fr/Actes-des-colloques.

Organization of the day

Alternating presentations by external experts and team members, various points were addressed to explain the complexity and richness of the partnerships set up. After a dense presentation of the genesis of the project and its results by Gérard Jadoul, the morning continued with presentations by the two main interlocutors within the 2 French and Belgian electrical TSOs, partners of the project: Johan Mortier for Elia, and Lisa Garnier for RTE. Stressing the fundamental implications of the project within the company, they were able to insist on the project's beginnings internally, but especially on the extensions and modifications of their respective "vegetation policies", but also to propose new complementary solutions to the LIFE pilot projects.

The morning was animated by the video presentation of the project, 13' of exchanges, sharing experiences, images alternating pylons and nature, electrical conductors and biodiversity, examples of actions and their interests. This video is available via the following link : https://vimeo.com/250074951.

Jean Pierre Scohy, Inspector General of DNF, stressed the positive interactions between the forest administration and the LIFE project. With particular emphasis on the consideration of these sites and their exemplary complementarity between the Forestry Code and the Elia safety corridor. LIFE actions, perfect, but it is necessary to continue the efforts made. Jean-François Godeau produced a presentation of dynamic maps, interactive information available on our website, allowing any curious person to see the actions carried out.

In order to support the rich remarks of the first part of the day, Simon de Voghel reviews the economic analyses allowing to approach the continuation of LIFE within the TSOs. It reviews the different aspects of cost-benefit analysis. This analysis helps to understand the possible interaction between woody vegetation management for Elia and biodiversity.

The lunch hour allowed the participants to meet, to share on the different presentations made in the morning.

The afternoon began with a presentation by Marc Dufrêne (Gembloux) demonstrating the importance of connectivity between populations, proof of the essential importance of the issues associated with the LIFE project and the logic of electricity network management, but also of all the others.

In the continuation of this presentation on networking and biodiversity, all the actions carried out by life on the Walloon region were presented demonstrating the difficulty of carrying out the work, but especially the concrete achievements and their positive impacts for biodiversity. This presentation was given by Jean-François Godeau, Sébastien Pirot, Mathieu Derume, and Pierre Clerx.

Simon de Voghel presented the different tools of communication to present the project in all its scope, in Belgium and France. Many, they rest on the Internet site, multiple news, brochures and leaflets, didactic panels, a video already presented...

Before seeing and evaluating the implementation of the management plans ensuring after-LIFE, Charles-Hubert Born (UCL) addresses the specific problem of temporary biodiversity, an important piece of the gigantic puzzle set up and implemented by the LIFE project, thus enabling its various objectives to be met.