Several tropical, biodiversity-rich nations are going through rapid economic growth, bringing welcome benefits including infrastructure development. One of the key sectors of such growth is the building of roads and road expansion projects. However, these benefits carry environmental costs, including habitat fragmentation, which have a lasting impact on wildlife communities and especially wide-ranging, threatened species. The subject of roads, particularly highways, as a conservation threat has recently drawn much attention. However, although road ecology is well developed in Europe and North America, it is still in a nascent phase in the tropics.
Divided into 17 chapters, Safe Passages involves 34 authors, some highly reputed in their fields, including road ecologists, conservation scientists, civil engineers, GIS specialists and transportation planners. Divided into four main parts, the first section broadly outlays the problems of roads for wildlife including fragmentation effects, mortality, influence on landscapes and other negative consequences. This section of the book also describes various mitigation and crossing structures.
Part two analyses the policy issues related to project planning, reviews processes of road formation and gives insights into how conservation practitioners could involve themselves in planning and in engaging with transportation planners. However, some of the processes suggested may be less relevant to tropical countries, where systematic planning is largely non-existent and agreed commitments by agencies may not always be honoured because of diverse goals, sometimes political. This is largely true for highway projects as they are ridden with corruption in many developing nations. However any project that affects wildlife needs to collaborate and develop mitigation strategies early in the planning and review process or else it will end up in needless controversies, delays in project delivery timelines, and in most cases cause irreversible damage to wildlife habitats.
The next part of the book is an interesting section, with some success stories presented. A series of case studies, including The Trans-Canada Highway, and US Highways 93, 64, I-40 and I-75 (Alligator Alley), of successful implementation of ecologically sound solutions that helped the Florida panther, mule deer, black bear, cougar, elk, red wolf and a range of other species are discussed. This part describes the key players, critical factors and effective partnerships, along with scientific knowledge, required to achieve conservation goals. Having worked to mitigate the impacts of three highways in two southern Indian tiger reserves, I understand the significance of building partnerships, especially within the Government.
The final section of the book looks at recent innovative developments and technological solutions in road ecology (although these may not be viable solutions for developing nations). It also illustrates citizen science projects and collaborative approaches with volunteers and decision makers to promote wildlife conservation.
In places the book becomes somewhat monotonous as there are too many similar examples, repeated descriptions of threats caused by highways, and a lack of a diversity of solutions (or perhaps there aren’t many). Some of the quantitative data provided could have been better presented in tables and figures rather than as currently hidden within long paragraphs of text. The quality of the maps could be better, although the photographs are useful.
Despite the fact that the book is rooted in North American case studies it could be a practical guide for conservation scientists and practitioners, transportation professionals or anyone interested in studying effects of highways and/or attempting to address the problem with appropriate solutions. The book successfully takes the reader from laying out the problem to feasible solutions.
In developing nations there is an urgent need for informed developmental planning that is integrated and based on the conservation needs of wildlife. Road projects find greater public support and political patronage than wildlife concerns. This book should inform and inspire new efforts in road ecology. If it helps address wildlife concerns in the planning, design and implementation of highway construction projects, the goals of this book will be worthily met.
