Our recent survey of the transport planning and policy literature revealed substantial barriers that obstruct the consideration and implementation of fauna-sensitive road design (FSRD). Although the review identified several ecological support tools that could be useful to transport practitioners, these are of limited use without ‘action-oriented’ research to support their adoption and application of FSRD more broadly.

We present a simple framework for a landscape level approach to identify species road crossing needs and priority sites for implementation. Our approach permits pro-active, scenario-based planning for wildlife friendlier roads that can easily be incorporated into EIAs.

A dramatic global rise in wildlife mortality due to vehicle collision has boosted a wide interest across disciplines to mitigate this impact through the installation of structures such as overpasses, underpasses, fences, etc. These structures can restore connectivity and improve population viability, even though research has found that some structures need to increase their effectiveness. So, it is more important than ever for optimal planning initiatives to be more precise, resilient, and adaptable enough to work for a wide range of species and taxa.