Roads, forest roads and wildlife accidents.

Roads and railways are linear anthropogenic structures that cause the fragmentation of the functional ecological network, reducing and isolating natural habitats and ultimately reducing specific wealth and biodiversity. In addition to these conditions, accidents constitute a significant risk for different groups of vertebrates, adding to these infrastructures roads and forest roads with heavy traffic for various reasons (recreational, connection of facilities, etc.) Mammals, birds, reptiles and amphibians (in this order) are the most affected groups and in this post we tell you about the incidents that we have been studying especially in these last two groups.

As for the temporality of incidents, although they are detected at any time of the day and during our working day, amphibian mortality, for example, usually occurs during twilight on rainy days and between the months of autumn and spring and especially in areas close to areas with lagoons, ponds, streams, watering holes, etc.

The number of reptiles is based on snakes (snakes), which are the most affected by abuses, and they suffer at a higher incidence during the spring months, since at this time reptiles travel motivated by heat (May-June) and mainly affecting males who travel in search of females, who are more run over in late spring and early summer when they move in search of suitable places for laying. In late summer and early autumn, there is also an increase in accidents, due to the dispersion of newborns or when adults show a lot of trophic activity after summer lethargy.

Avoiding these incidents on large budget roads is easy and there are numerous measures available, such as fences; overpasses or underpasses; use of materials with less radiation absorption and therefore less attractive to reptiles; creation of alternative breeding habitats to reduce the migration of specimens; actions on vegetation and creation of attractive shelters, etc.

The problem in roads and forest roads can be aggravated due to their situation (proximity to natural areas, wetlands, etc.) and the lack of budget to act on them, so that the possible measures from our point of view are limited:

Installation of warning and speed reduction signs in areas that are susceptible to conflict. This action requires adequate planning and installation, and although there is official signage in Spain (vertical triangular sign with the cow or the deer) there is much more variety in other countries such as kangaroos, koalas,.. in Australia; the sheep in France; the elk and the reindeer in the Nordic countries; the ostrich and the turtles in South Africa, etc.

Different authors point out the ineffectiveness of these signals. (Skolving, 1985 and Muller and Mognetti, 1991) and they state that only a few drivers respect this measure with a small reduction in speed, however, we believe that given the cost/possible benefit ratio, they are considered to be very useful.

Improvements in Environmental Impact Studies (E.I.A.) And here we have a Mea Culpa, because sometimes we do not pay enough attention (nor is the proportional part of the budget of a road or forest route) to these measures, a fact that should begin to be corrected even from the University Schools when teaching the subjects of Roads and Forest Roads and the like.

It is essential that EIA roads in natural environments (or not) adequately contemplate the impact on fauna and that preventive and corrective measures are indicated. The number of assumptions related to construction must be increased and the selection of alternatives that foresee a serious negative impact on fauna must be improved.

Placement of highlights or speed bumps in the most conflicting sections. These actions, which are easy to implement on roads, will cause a drastic reduction in speed in those areas where the mandatory Environmental Impact Study has predicted a greater impact due to the movement and crossing of specimens.

General awareness of the conservation of these groups. This awareness should begin with the road safety education activities provided at school, as well as information on the use that fauna makes of the different roads and the benefits of this. Among the general recommendations to all drivers, it is necessary to highlight speed moderation, compliance with warning signs, use of alternative transport, special attention to crossings and parking lots on the animal road, (if possible, after verifying that there is no road hazard, braking, dodging them or driving on them without running over them) especially on rainy nights, protected or valuable areas, near landfills, urban crossings...

Ideas MedioAmbiental has proposed these measures in a large part of the facilities in which we have worked and work and the results, although in the absence of an in-depth study, are being very satisfactory.