Ekoduki - bridges for animals From Primorye to Singapore

2024 Author: Seth Attwood | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 15:55

Ekoduk is a road infrastructure construction that is very unusual for Russia.

Such zones are called ecological tunnels / bridgesor eco-ducks, and build them in such a way that their appearance is as similar as possible to the natural habitat of the animals crossing it.

Ecoduks help keep wild animals alive and make roads safer for drivers in places where animals can cross the road. And even in Russia there are such.

Highways and roads have always been a place of increased danger for both people and animals. And if a person can take care of himself on his own, then wild animals are deprived of such an opportunity when they have to face civilization. Unfortunately, it is difficult to accurately calculate how many animals die under the wheels of cars annually, since not all facts are officially recorded. In 2018 alone, more than 400 collision cases were established. It is quite obvious that the real numbers are much higher.

To help animals avoid painful death and prevent road accidents, in which people can also suffer, eco-ducks are being built. Ekoduk is a specially equipped highway crossing for animals, disguised as much as possible under the natural landscape of the area. The approaches to it are very wide, so the largest number of furry travelers can safely cross the road. So that the inhabitants of the forest are not frightened by the sound of cars, eco-ducks are equipped with noise-insulating screens. Biological transitions can be underground, aboveground and hinged, it all depends on the area where they are installed. Crossings are always built based on the data of ecologists and zoologists, since they should be located on natural paths and migration routes of certain species.

Russia came to the construction of crossings for animals only recently, in 2016. The authorities not only applied the experience of their Western colleagues, but also developed their own rules for their construction, which take into account climatic conditions, geographical features and specific parameters of the area. The very first land-based eco-product was erected in the Kaluga region on the M-3 "Ukraine" highway at 170 kilometers. According to the authors of the project, these places are inhabited by many elks, foxes, wild boars, roe deer, which now will not run out onto the road, which is very dangerous for the animals themselves and for the drivers, and can lead to a terrible accident. Noise insulation is installed on the ecoduk. And so that the habitat was familiar to the animals, the bridge was planted with shrubs, trees, grass. For this, the top layer was made of black earth soil.

The result is a bridge of only 165 m, 50 m wide. Now animals can migrate calmly, because the track cuts the forest in two. By the way, the project is not cheap - 100 million rubles were spent on this entire structure.

It should be noted that every year there are more bio-transitions in the country, as there is an understanding of their need. In 2019, they promised to build as many as five eco-ducts in the Moscow region. It is especially important that new objects are designed to be safe for humans and animals. They do not harm the cleanliness of the environment and do not violate eco-systems.

In Primorye, in the national park "Land of the Leopards" there is a tunnel for animals. It was also planted with grass and vegetation to make the animals feel comfortable. In addition, cameras were installed to watch those who cross the road through the underpass. But there is only one bridge for animals in Russia. And moreover, it is the aboveground passage that is important for large animals that do not want to go into the tunnel, it is too crowded. Therefore, bridges were specially built for moose, wolves and wild boars.

Eco-ducks, designed to return freedom of movement to animals, are, most often, artificial building structures made of iron and concrete, but when creating them, they try to bring their appearance and location as close as possible to the natural habitat of the local animal world. At the same time, as the researchers note, eco-ducs are used not only by large animals, but also by all other living creatures - butterflies, beetles, spiders, etc.

The first such bridge for animals was erected in France, back in the 1950s. Today, there are already thousands of such bridges on the planet. The Netherlands have distinguished themselves in this regard - there are more than 600 such bridges.

It is no secret that any road or railroad cuts the natural migration routes of animals living in this area. Animals frightened by extraneous noise either stop visiting the territory altogether, or die when crossing a dangerous area under the wheels of cars.

To prevent the death of animals and not to disrupt migration routes, special zones are being built around the world where animals can cross a dangerous area without being exposed to danger.

Below you will see ecoduks in various parts of the world, which are intended for the migration of various species of animals: from crabs to leopards.

In some places along the road there are even posters indicating the direction to the EcoDuk (Wildlife crossing). But this is for those animals that can read.:)

With the help of eco-ducks, thousands of animals can be saved every year and a large number of accidents are avoided. Despite the fact that bridges of life have just begun to appear in Russia, this trend is yielding positive results and in the future will help maintain an ecological balance in the construction of highways.