National Highway-7 in India

Lessons for conservation and development

Asha RajvanshiProfessor & Head, EIA Cell

Wildlife Institute of India

Florence, Italy

22 April 2015

Vinod B. Mathur,Director,

Wildlife Institute of India

Presentation outline

Introduction

Research objectives

Research methods

Results

Conclusions

Recommendations

Acknowledgements

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5b/Glanum_Roman_Road.JPG

India has the third largest road

network in the world (4.2 million

km)

26,000 km through forested

landscapes

www.wti.org.in

Roads, not just for humans

http://ajaysekher.net/tag/biking-kerala/

SRINAGAR

VARANASI

NAGPUR

HYDERABAD

BANGALORE

DELHI

KANYAKUMARI

http://tamarindtours.in/Images/destinations/large/Pench_Tigers_In_Pench_National_Park.jpg

Study area

Average annual daily traffic:

3035 274 vehicle/day

0

50

100

150

200

250

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24

Hour of day

Winter Summer Moonsoon

No

.o

f veh

icle

s

How are wild animals distributed along the road side?

What is the spatio-temporal pattern of road use?

What factors influence vulnerability and animal

mortality?

What is the present use of animal crossings and how

suitable they are?

What are the mitigation options for road induced

impacts?

What is the learning for conservation and road

planners?

Research objectives

Roadside counts for assessing the use

of road verge and adjacent habitats by

wild animals (mammals,birds and

reptiles)

24 hours monitoring for assessing road

use by animals (3 days in every month)

Direct observations of the animal

movements on the road and across

Indirect evidences of animals in the

road verge (5-10m)

Road verge

METHODS: Assessment of road and

roadside use by wild animals

Estimating road kills: Road survey (effort of 870 km)

Identification/ Grouping

Prediction of fatality hotspots: Kernel density

Factors influencing road kills:

• Visibility

• Distance to cover

• Distance to water

• Distance to underpass

• Distance to drainage

• Distance to agriculture

• Altitude and slope

METHODS: Assessment of mortality

METHOD: Permeability of wildlife passage

Direct observations

PIPs

Camera trapping

Source: Bivash Pandav, WII

Source: Bivash Pandav, WII

RESULTS

Summer MonsoonWinter

Roadside habitat use by animals

Animal sightings in the road verge

Indirect animal evidences along the road verge

Summer MonsoonWinter

Day time

3 vehicles./ min

Night time

1.3 vehicles./ min

0

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300

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to

1

Time

No

.of

veh

icle

s /

ho

ur

Tuesday

Friday

Sunday

0.000

0.020

0.040

0.060

0.080

0.100

0.120

0.140

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to

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to

1

Time

En

co

un

ter

rate

/ k

m

Summer

Winter

Monsoon

Trends of traffic volume and animal sightings

Traffic volume

Animal sightings

Road related mortality of mammals

Mammalian species are especially vulnerable to road network because they have

large spatial requirements, small populations, tend to live at low densities and

occupy small geographic range or exhibit migratory behavior (Ball et al. 2001;

Gittleman et al. 2003).

Large/ mediumanimals

n=218%

Smallanimals

n=218%

Primatesn=7728%

Rodentsn=13851%

Batsn=155%

ChitalSambar

Jungle catJackal Fox

Hare Porcupine Palm civet

272 kills

(15 species)

in 430 days

Location of road induced kills of mammals Large and medium sized

mammals killed more

near water bodies

Fatality clusters of small

mammals near cropland

and water sources

Primate kills located

mostly near crop land

and water sources

Rodent kills located all

along the road

Bat kills mostly near

water source

Seiler-2001

Impact of NH-7 on snakes

Snakes represent an ideal target group for studying impacts of roads

because of the breadth of ecological niches represented among snake sp.

(Ernst & Ernst 2003)

490 kills

24 species

in 430 days

Common krait

Bamboo pit viper Barred wolf snake Beaked worm snake

Checkered keel back

Bronzeback tree snake

Common cat snake

Trinket snake

Impacts of NH-7 on birds

Bird hits affect greater number of individuals in the population when

compared to factors such as predation (Bujoczek et al. 2011) and

hunting (Forman & Alexander 1998).

Barred jungle owlet

Jungle babbler

Jungle

crow

Gray night jar

143 bird hits

(16 species)

in 430 days

Jungle owletPlum-headed

parakeet Rose-ringed

parakeet

Indian roller

Permeability of culverts for movement of mammals

Only 7 species of the 13 species used the

culverts.

Use is very limited (0.36 animal /culvert/day)

based on the total 540 days monitoring effort.

Alternative structures needed to address the

connectivity issues for animal movement across

the road.

RECOMMENDATIONS

Use of animal passes is

strongly influenced by

openness ratio and biotic

disturbance

Size and design of passages

must correspond with

ecological requirements of

different species

Mitigation measures for road induced mortality

1. Speed control

2. Temporary road closure

3. Regulatory guidelines for

laying/upgrading road through

sensitive habitats

4. Prescriptions for suitable verge width

5. Restrictions on stopping/ parking of

vehicles in vulnerable segments of the

highway

Regulatory or Prescriptive measures On-site construction and habitat

management

Measures to alter human

behavior

Measures to alter animal

responses to road

1. Clearing vegetation for improving

visibility along road

2. Erection of animals proof fence

3. Wildlife detection systems

4. Construction of appropriately

designed and positioned culverts

5. Retrofitting existing drainage culverts

to facilitate wildlife crossing by

animals

Measures for addressing road induced mortality

Creation of alternative sites for thermoregulation

Measures for reducing snake mortality

(i) Managing roadside habitat to reduce

attractiveness for birds

(ii) Encourage birds to fly higher above the

roadway

(iii) Maintaining a clear zone, devoid of trees

and shrubs to prevent reptiles and rodents

become prey for birds patrolling for food.

Strategies for reducing mortalities

Lessons learned for conservation and

development

Piecemeal approach in planning : Bigger threat for conservation

Road in sensitive landscapes to be planned as a single corridor

Combining conservation science and road building critical for

connecting people and conserving wildlife in natural areas

There is a merit in retaining ‘roadless areas’ in sensitive habitats

where mitigation measures are hard to enforce

Acknowledgements

Wildlife Institute of India (WII), Dehradun

Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ)

Madhya Pradesh Forest Department, MP

Field Director, Pench Tiger Reserve

A. Pragatheesh, Senior Research Fellow

Conservation Community

Peers, friends and colleagues

THANK YOU

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