Building Eco-Bridges in the Forests for Wildlife

Dhriti Bhadra

On November 29, it was reported that Uttarakhand had built a unique bridge for small mammals and reptiles. It is a first-of-its-kind eco bridge across a busy highway in Ramnagar forest division of Nainital to prevent reptiles and small mammals from being crushed. The highway is the main route to Nainital and usually witnesses heavy traffic. Consequently, snakes, lizards, pythons, squirrels, etc are crushed by vehicles and their remains can be spotted frequently. Forest officials hope that this eco bridge will reduce road kills of reptiles and will help in preserving the ecosystem for reptiles that feed on insects, for snakes that feed on reptiles, and for eagles that feed on snakes. They hope that the bridge will be used by leopards too. Chandra Sekhar Joshi, Ramnagar Divisional Forest Officer, said: “The bridge is an awareness building mechanism for this very congested tourist route.”

Eco bridges are essential because they enhance wildlife connectivity and give a safe passage for animals to travel. There are many types of eco bridges such as canopy bridges, concrete underpasses or overpass tunnels and amphibian tunnels or culverts. The span, size and distribution of eco bridges mainly depend upon animal movement patterns and location. Spotted deer, sambhar, nilgai, wild pig use bigger bridges while barking deer prefer smaller ones.

[Dhriti Bhadra is a first-year law student at the National University of Juridical Sciences, Kolkata.]