Os caminhos da conservação da biodiversidade brasileira frente aos impactos da infraestrutura viária

Abstract

Highways, roads and railways where we transport our loading and people are fundamental to social and economic development of the country. However, each kilometer of road adds a multitude of direct and indirect environmental impacts at the local and regional biodiversity. The most visible of these impacts is the wildlife-vehicle-collision (wvc), which in Brazil affects more than 475 million vertebrates every year, or 15 animals at every second. The economic growth of the country requires in creasing of the road network over 1.7 million kilometers, generating chronic impacts throughout the territory and with unpredictable consequences for biodiversity. In many protected areas the wvc exist and fragmentation, species avoidance, barrier effects as well, that preventor reduce species to access resources or new areas. Understanding the effect of wvc on protected areas requires reliable data collection that support decision-making on mitigation measures in order to prioritize actions. Much information has been lost due to the lack of data systematization, and they are, in many cases, kept in protected areas. We propose that protected areas adopt a single protocol for the collection and storage of wvc data, using systematic and/or non-systematic surveys as they prefer.