
On 8 December 2020, the international organization Conference of European Directors of Roads (CEDR) published the document Maintenance of Ecological Assets. This is the final report for the ‘Roads and Wildlife – Transnational Road Research Programme’, which started in 2013.
This document provides practical guidelines for managers of linear transport infrastructures and instructions for the proper maintenance of wildlife crossings, fences to prevent animal collisions, and road verges, among others. Proper maintenance of these assets is crucial to ensure the long-term effectiveness of measures to reduce the risk of wildlife accidents, mitigating wildlife impacts and providing appropriate management of habitats related to transport infrastructure (road verges, drains, etc.).
The document was developed in the framework of a CEDR commission to MINUARTIA, with the collaboration of researchers from the Institute for Natural Resource Conservation, Kiel University, Germany and the CDV – Transport Research Centre, Czech Republic.
The text will soon be incorporated as a new chapter in the update of the European Wildlife and Traffic Handbook promoted by Infrastructure Ecology Network Europe (IENE).
You can consult it here.