Wildlife Corridors

Not all animals live a stationary existence. The movement of species may occur for a variety of reasons, including the search for prey or breeding grounds. As habitat loss becomes a greater problem, these migratory species are coming into more frequent contact with human populations. This can create a crisis situation whereby animals inadvertently destroy farmers’ crops, or local people block a key route that has been used by these species for generations. Wildlife corridors provide a solution to this problem.

In the main, it is possible to predict the movements of many wild animals, especially once the groundwork has been done in terms of studying their behaviour through the use of tag and release programs. Modelling this data can aid researchers to find flash points where animals and humans may come into contact. Based on this research, the correct use of wildlife corridors can ensure that animals are free to move from one place to another without impacting on the lives of local people.

As forest space is reduced, it is essential to maintain clear links between areas making up the core habitat: undeveloped land that is already protected. Different areas may be linked in ways that are not always obvious to an outside observer. For example, elephants may frequent one part of a forest through most of the year but move to another during periods of drought. In order to facilitate this movement, local governments need to preserve smaller areas of forest that function as a stepping stone between two larger protected areas. The animals can then move freely without entering heavily populated areas.

The scale of the problem is difficult to imagine. A single elephant herd may have a range of over a thousand kilometres, especially where forest cover has already been destroyed. This movement will be affected by any large-scale building work, which may also include the construction of railways which criss-cross land that is being used by the elephants. The solution is not simply earmarking land to be protected as reserves because these reserves would need to be extremely large. The only realistic answer is to manage the land effectively.

Wildlife corridors alone cannot hold back the ravages of habitat loss. They work best when included as part of a suite of measures to conserve and expand the local environment.

In many cases, wildlife corridors can be facilitated by exploiting natural boundaries such as rocky or hilly areas, which would be unsuitable for pastureland. Using these to delineate the limits of the corridor removes some of the burden on local authorities in managing the terrain.

Habitat loss is not necessarily permanent. Farmers who live on the fringes of natural parks can be encouraged to grow native plants on their land as a process of revegetation. By enlarging the amount of forest cover, they will provide further distance between themselves and local wildlife. Greater flora means more habitat protection for fauna.

Regenerating the habitat may just entail allowing nature to take its course. Flood plains around rivers can cause great damage to property if people build on them, but by leaving this terrain and allowing rivers to flood it periodically, new plant growth can be encouraged.

Furthermore, education can save farmers from seeing their land damaged by migrating animals. Elephants are extremely adept at finding sources of food. If farmers plant tasty crops on the land that touches the natural parks and elephant reserves, they are effectively encouraging the animals to come into contact with them. Elephants don’t respect human boundaries and no wild animal is going to pass up the opportunity of a free meal.

Without needing too much hard work on the part of local people, wildlife corridors can be put in place and shielded from the human population by exploiting the inherent features of the landscape and by predicting the behaviour of the species in question. It is one environmental innovation which is a win-win for all concerned.