Current Practices and Design for Mitigating Road Impacts on Wildlife Populations

Mitigating road impacts on wildlife populations require innovative design and practices. Crossing structures have been observed to be more effective than other systems. For example, more than 50 studies revealed thatthe combination of fencing and crossing structures led to an 83% reduction in road-kill of large mammals, compared to a 57% reduction for animal detection systems, and only a 1% reduction for wildlife reflectors.Scale is also important, such that systems should cover not just project but also landscape levels. Aside from these considerations, research and monitoring are critical to inform design. Moreover, national scale assessment allows prioritization of projects.