Collinson, WJ¹

¹The Endangered Wildlife Trust, South Africa

Despite evidence suggesting that road traffic is a major threat to biodiversity, very little is known about its impact on wildlife populations in Africa. Road density and traffic volumes are increasing globally, and although huge budgets are devoted to the construction and upgrading of roads, there is insufficient allocation to the implementation of mitigation measures for protecting fauna in most countries, particularly those in Africa.

As of 2019, the total population of Africa was estimated at 1.3 billion, representing 16.8% of the world’s population. According to UN estimates, the population of Africa may reach 2.49 billion by 2050 (about 26% of the world’s total), with an economic growth rate of 3.8% in 2022. To continue to enable this economic development, there are plans to “spur a major revolution” through investments in public transport, including road infrastructure, rail upgrades, freight services and intelligent transport systems, all of which will almost certainly impact wildlife.

To date, African road ecology studies have focused primarily on roadkill rates, with results highlighting the need not only for a greater understanding of the primary determinants of roadkill and its threat to biodiversity, but also the indirect effects of the country’s roads on wildlife. In 2013, we developed a standardised protocol for the detection of vertebrate roadkill, which has since been applied in several countries in the world.

Our presentation gives a brief overview of the current road ecology projects underway in Africa outlining (i) the development of road sensitivity maps for South Africa using the EWT citizen science roadkill database, (ii) identification of hotspots related to roads for both flora iii) monitoring animals killed on roads in protected areas in South Africa, (iv) implementing roadkill-reduction-measures in identified hotspots and assessing their effectiveness in reducing roadkill numbers, and (v) the use of social media as a tool to raise awareness of the threat of roads to biodiversity and a means to submit roadkill data.

Following this, we will then discuss roadkill data collection methodologies, and assist with designing data sheets.

We plan to continue to build capacity and find solutions to Africa’s roadkill issues. While Africa is fundamentally different to Europe and North America, application of the information and lessons learned in the Global North should be explored within the African framework. Major differences that may influence this process include faunal diversity, landscapes and geography, the density of roads and humans, socio-economic priorities, and funding and support for road ecology research and mitigation measures. The development of ‘African’ solutions may be required to solve uniquely African issues.

Manisha Bhardwaj¹

Mattias Olsson²,  Michele Deis³, Falko Brieger³

¹University of Freiburg, Faculty of Environment and Natural Resources, Chair of Wildlife Ecology and Management, Freiburg, Germany

²EnviroPlanning AB, Gothenburg, Sweden

³Wildlife Institute, Forest Research Institute of Baden-Württemberg, Freiburg, Germany

University of Freiburg, Germany

University of Freiburg, Faculty of Environment and Natural Resources, Chair of Wildlife Ecology and Management, Freiburg, Germany.
Roads and other linear transport infrastructure can have detrimental impacts on wildlife, including mortality effects from wildlife-vehicle collisions, and barrier effects due to loss of landscape connectivity.

Wildlife crossing structures combined with suitable fencing are a commonly implemented mitigation strategy to reduce wildlife-vehicle collisions and increase landscape connectivity for wildlife. However, the effectiveness of fencing for traffic safety has an arguable effect on wildlife mortality since wildlife-vehicle collisions tend to occur more often on medium-sized roads, where fencing for wildlife is not prioritized, and wildlife crossing structures are seldom installed due to economical and constructional constraints. In such instances, at-grade fauna passages with roadside Animal Detection and Driver Warning Systems (ADDWS) may serve as an alternative to wildlife bridges and underpasses, since they are cheaper to install, simpler to construct and easier to maintain. ADDWS include systems to detect wildlife within a detection zone and warn drivers of the potential collision risk. In this workshop, we will discuss the design of ADDWS, and the landscapes in which they can be used effectively.

This workshop is for those with experience using detection and/or warning systems, and those without. We encourage all to attend and it would be great to get a mixture of experiences, including government officials, practitioners and managers, engineers, and researchers.

This workshop is hosted in part by the Infrastructure and Ecology Network Europe working group on Animal Detection and Driver Warning Systems

GCLIE 2023

Virtual Conference (links to be provided)

Thursday 14 September to Friday 15 September - Online Global Congress for Linear Infrastructure and Environment hosted by ACLIE