(MY) letter to editor - sensible in building roads

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Be sensible when building roads - New Straits Times

13 Nov 2006

S.M. MOHD IDRIS, President, Sahabat Alam Malaysia, Penang

 

 

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THE latest road casualties involving a baby elephant and eight

buffaloes reflect an ubiquitous, under-discussed problem that demands

immediate attention from both the Public Works Department and

Transport Ministry.

 

Sahabat Alam Malaysia (SAM) has time and again highlighted the issue

of road kills with the Minister of Works and the Minister of

Transport.

 

Killing and hurting of animals goes on every day on our roads without

being noticed.

 

It is not just that animals die when hit by passing cars and lorries.

 

Roads also disrupt migratory routes and break up habitats.

 

With the fragmentation of landscapes by highways, animal populations

are divided into smaller, isolated units.

 

Smaller populations are less stable and, over time, face extinction

from predators or natural causes.

 

They may also become susceptible to inbreeding and to genetic defects.

 

Engineers should exercise restraint and sensitivity when building roads.

 

Construction of highways should take into account the need for roads

with over overpasses and underpasses.

 

It was reported recently in a US conservation magazine, Audubon, that

along a 35km stretch of highway in Banff National Park in Canada, 22

underpasses have been built since 1985.

 

This has reduced the highway mortality of elk by almost 95 per cent.

 

According to Canadian biologist Brian Horesji, fragmentation of

habitats and traffic impact can be prevented by burying segments of

road for at least a kilometre with the planting of vegetation on top.

 

With increasing wildlife being killed on the roads, the relevant

ministries should consider a similar kind of Ops Sikap to educate and

inform drivers of animal crossings through signs along highways, and

go on a publicity drive to save wildlife.

 

Humans kill more wild animals with their vehicles than in any other manner.

 

A little sense and sensibility should prevail in the construction of

highways by roping in wildlife biologists and transportation engineers

to discuss and solve the problem of road-kills before implementation

of road projects.