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CONTENTS
Infra Eco Network Europe (IENE)
Suggestions or contributions to the
bulletin
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e-bulletin · JULY 2005 · number
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Responsibility
for accidents caused by collisions with wildlife: an
inflection point
In
recent years, the conflicts caused by collisions between
vehicles and wildlife have increased. This has brought
about serious unrest within the hunting community as a
result of claims presented by insurance companies to the
landowners of hunting areas, when the collision included
deer, wild boar or other game species.
This
situation will change notably with the parliamentary
approbation on 28th of April 2005, of a
modification to the sixth additional statute of the
traffic, motor vehicle circulation and road safety law.
According to this modification, damages from accidents
produced by a collision with game will only be claimed
from the beneficiaries of hunting (or in their absence,
the landowners) when the accident “is the direct
consequence of the act of hunting or from a lack of
diligence in the conservation of the hunting area.” Furthermore,
the modification establishes that damages can be claimed
from those responsible for public roads where an
accident has occurred if it has occurred “as a
consequence of their responsibility in the
conservational state of the same and in its signposting”.
Amongst
the results of the approved modification, it is
predictable that the following will stand out: increased
driver responsibility, since drivers could be made
responsible for the damages caused by the accident, in
the event that they have breached the law; the insurance
companies of the vehicles (or in their absence, the
drivers themselves) may have to face the responsibility
of the cost of the damages produced by a collision with
game in those stretches of road where wild animals
frequently cross, and where signposting obliges the
driver to reduce speed (normally to a limit of
50-60 km/hr), whenever it has been proved that
the vehicle was travelling over the speed limit. Finally,
damages can be claimed from the companies responsible
for the road, creating a new orientation to the problem.
Until
now, the rise in accidents caused by collisions with
wild boar and other ungulates was attributed to the
increase in the number of animals, which many of these
species have experienced in the past few decades but
other points generating the problem have not been kept
in mind. It is true that ungulate populations have
expanded greatly but the problem has also been
aggravated by the increase in traffic intensity and also
road improvements, meaning that vehicles can travel at
faster speeds. Also, new roads (or existing, improved
roads) have become imposing barriers which obstruct the
movement of animals since they do not take into account
a sufficient number of wildlife passages which assist
wild animals in crossing with fewer risks. Large mammals
require extensive areas of land to move about in order
to find basic resources such as food and water, and to
reproduce. If they find barriers which limit the access
to these resources, many animals will try to cross them,
using specific wildlife crossings or directly across the
tarmac.
As
a result, the construction of wildlife passages, and in
general, the design of an adequate permeability of the
wildlife passages, has moved from being a conservation
tool in biological diversity to
an indispensable measure for guaranteeing road users'
safety. According to the new legislation, the
construction of wildlife passages has become an
indispensable element in preventing claims being
presented to the companies responsible for the roads for
damages in accidents caused by game species.
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A
long awaited reform
Last April 28th saw the
modification to the sixth additional statute of the
traffic, motor vehicle circulation and road safety law
in parliament. The new edition is as follows:
“In
traffic accidents caused by the running over of game,
the driver of the vehicle will be responsible when
failure to follow the circulation laws can be attributed
to him or her.
Personal
and patrimonial damages in these accidents will only be
claimed from the beneficiaries of hunting, or, in
their absence, the landowners when the accident is
the direct consequence of the act of hunting or from a
lack of diligence in the conservation of the hunting
area.
Those
responsible for public roads can also be held
responsible if an accident occurs as a consequence of
their responsibility in the conservational state of the
same and in its signposting”.
This
is still a provisional text since it is still open to
revision during the parliamentary procedure. However, in
principle only the form would be affected.
Without
a doubt, it deals with an important reform, which
responds to a great social demand. On the one hand, this
comes from the hunting sector, which was systematically
condemned to pay the economic consequences that were
caused by accidents with game animals, and on the other,
the conservation sector, which demanded a greater
investment in prevention and safety measures from the
appropriate road management administration.
Once the revised text is
published in the Official State Bulletin, a series of
doubts about its application are considered. We must
keep in mind that at present, the question of the
responsibility derived from the running over of animals
on the road is regulated in different legal texts. On
one side, the Civil Code regulates the question of extra
contractual responsibility in its article 1,902 and more
specifically it refers to damages caused by game in
article 1,906. The Hunting Law of 1970, applicable even
in those autonomous communities which do not have their
own hunting laws, refers to damages caused by hunting in
article 33, repealing article 1,906 of the Civil Code.
Subsequently, some autonomic hunting laws also regulated
this question although with substantial differences
amongst them. This now leads to a situation of absolute
juridical insecurity since the legal dealing is
different depending on the location of the accident.
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In
my opinion, the autonomous hunting laws should not have
legislated this question, since the running over of a
wild animal on a road has no relation to hunting.
The
fact is that once this reform is approved definitively,
the autonomous communities that have regulated this
matter should adapt their legislation in accordance with
the traffic, motor vehicle circulation and road safety
law. |
Rangers,
Environment and Housing Department, Generalitat
de Catalunya
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I
understand that this is the way it is because, although
the autonomous communities are fully competent on the
subject of hunting, we are faced with an accident which
occurs on roads, dual carriageways and motorways and
deals with a clear assumption of civil extra contractual
responsibility and, according to article 8 and 21 of
article 149.1 and 149.3, of the constitution.
The
contrary solution would lead us towards the absurd which
is the situation at the moment and which is none other
than the application of a different juridical rule to
the same fact, depending on the autonomous community
where the accident has taken place.
We are faced with an
important reform, which I hope will be interpretated by
our tribunals in the correct sense, that is, to prevent
a series of responsibilities being established a
priori. Now it will be necessary to see who is the
true culprit in each case. Furthermore, after many
years, our legislation will finally be on equal terms
with the rest of the European countries
Jorge
Bernad Danzberger
Lawyer
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Annual
meeting of the Working Group, and projects for writing up the
technical prescriptions for the design of wildlife crossings
and perimetral fencing
The 8th meeting of the Working Group on
Fragmentation of Habitats caused by Transport Infrastructure
took place in Madrid at the National Head Office of
Biodiversity (MIMAM), on the 2nd of June and was
attended by 33 people who were representatives of transport
consultants and the environment of 14 autonomous communities
and the State.
The main order of the day
consisted of the presentation of the second draft of the
document Technical Prescriptions for the Design of Wildlife
Crossings and Perimetral Fencing, prepared for a comission
created within the group and whose publication is expected to
be ready by 2006. Those who attended also revised other work
such as the translation of the European manual COST 341.
Wildlife and Traffic, which is in the printing stage. They
also set in motion the data base on bibliographies and applied
measures in the Spanish State to make roads permeable for
wildlife passages and prevention of road accidents and
collisions with large mammals which appears in the Ministry of
the Environment's web page. It is anticipated that
consultation of this base will be possible in the coming
months.
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Studies on accidents
caused by the presence of animals on the road
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From the point of view of road
safety, the presence of animals on roads where motor vehicles
travel constitutes a grave problem since a very high risk of
accidents exists with occasional mortal consequences.
The
National Head Office of Traffic has carried out a descriptive
study of this problem. In order to do this, officials from the
Guardia Civil Traffic Section filled out a questionnaire in
which they registered a series of data on those accidents,
which as far as they were aware, occurred as a result of the
presence of animals on the road.
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The study took place over
one year (from February 2003 to January 2004) and included
accidents caused by the presence of all kinds of animals,
domestic and wild, and whether the result of the accident was
only material damage or included victims.
A
total of 6,227 accidents were registered, of which 316
resulted in victims. Amongst these, 17 deaths were counted, 76
serious injuries and 396 slight injuries. The different
variables were analysed such as the type of road where the
accident occurred, the types of animals present in the serious
accidents, territorial and temporal distribution as well as
the roads on which the highest frequency of these types of
accidents occurred.
This study is available
in the web page of the National Head Office of Traffic by
clicking here.
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Candelaria
Mederos. National
Head Office of Traffic. National Observatory of Road Safety.
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Study
on road accidents involving vertebrates in the Parque
Natural de l’Albufera (Valencia)
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Between
June 2003 and July 2004, a study was carried out on the
accidents that occurred on one stretch of the CV-500 road
(including a part of the dual carriageway) and on the access
road to the village of Palmar, both in the Parque Natural de
l’Albufera (Valencia). These roads pass through rice fields,
or between the Devesa (on the whole, old sandbanks with
forest vegetation and scrub) and rice fields, interchanging
with areas urbanised to various degrees.
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Vicent
Benedito and Sara Rodríguez
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Very
high frequencies of accidents were obtained, above those
obtained in the majority of the studies of which we have
references both in Spain and in other countries. In accordance
with our experience in the sample, we want to point out that
in these types of projects the results represent
underestimates that in some groups of animals can be
important.
Amongst
the vertebrates that were run over, birds in particular stand
out. Their annual abundance and distribution is explained by
their seasonal cycle and by their use of territory, or by both
of these (as well as from structural aspects of the roads).
The abundance of young mallard run over on the road should be
pointed out since a large number of females nest in the
“Devesa” and in order to access the rice fields, they have
to cross the road.
6
genets were also run over between 2003 and 2004, and 4 so far
this 2005. The road intercepts the genets' territory.
Bats
form another group that are seriously affected, and they are
possibly the vertebrate group in which the underestimate is
the greatest, in which case the impact of roads on them would
be even more important.
The
majority of the accidents were due to the complete absence of
mitigation measures. In the Parque Natural de l’Albufera,
the barrier effect and road accidents are a great threat to
many vertebrate species (not only birds), some of which are
protected, for example, bats. This is a fact to be kept in
mind in the design of roads that affect wetlands.
Finally,
mitigation measures of varying nature were proposed, in
accordance with the characteristics of each stretch of road,
some of which
contemplate important structural changes.
The
study is included in a convention between the Polytechnic
University of Valencia and the Valencia Town Hall (Oficina
Técnica Devesa – Albufera).
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Vicent
Benedito Durà, Ángela Jaramillo i Sara Rodríguez. Department
of Hydraulic Engineering and Environment.
Universitat Politècnica de València.
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Reinforcement of fencing for wild boar in the AS-1 dual carriageway:
Mieres- Gijón
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The
AS-1 dual carriageway, known as the Minera dual carriageway,
which became functional at the end of 2002, registered a high
number of accidents caused by wild boar, with a total of 21
collisions in a 24km stretch between December 2002 and
February 2004. The Road Conservation Service of the
Environment, Political Territory and Infrastructure Department
in the Principality of Asturias applied different systems in
order to reduce the number of accidents such as the
reinforcement of fences with pegs and barbed wire, or
reflectors, but without achieving positive results.
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Carme
Rosell (Minuartia)
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Finally,
the problem has been solved with the installation of fence
reinforcement consisting of an electro-soldered grid mesh 5cm
wide and 30cm high, which was sunk into the ground between 15
and 30cm, depending on how hard the ground was. The mesh was
joined by means of stainless steel washers. Use of this
reinforcement has succeeded in preventing wild boar from
lifting the fences and reaching the dual carriageway and it
also helps to drive them towards viaducts and tunnels or
towards the under passes which meet the requirements necessary
for this species to get across.
According to the specialised manuals, in order to prevent the wild boar
lifting the fences, it is necessary to construct fences with
posts every 4 metres and with the mesh buried, at least 15cm
at the base. However, where there are accidents on roads that
already count on perimetral fences, the installation of this
reinforcement can contribute to a notable reduction to the
problem.
Joaquín
Belón. Service
for the Conservation of Roads of the Ministry of the
Environment Ordination of the Territory and Infrastructures,
Principado
de
Asturias.
Carme
Rosell. MINUARTIA, Estudis Ambientals.
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Impact of two types of barrier on the wolves in
Castilla and León
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Recently a summary has been
published of the study financed by the National Head Office of
Biodiversity (Department of the Environment) together with la
Junta de Castilla y León on the influence of two types of
barriers for wolves (Canis lupus) in this autonomous
community (Blanco et al. 2005).
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F.
J. García
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The
study analyses the effects of the two types of barrier on a
population of wolves in expansion, which lives in an
agricultural environment in Valladolid and Zamora. The
barriers were: 1) the dual carriageway A-6 between Tordesillas
and Villalpando, with 4 lanes, fenced, in a flat area without
specific wildlife passages; 2) the River Duero corridor, which
consists of the river itself, and various lineal
infrastructures nearby.
Between
March 1997 and October 2001, the 4 radio-tracked wolves that
lived less than 15 km from the carriageway crossed it using
bridges for vehicles between 4% and 33% of the 45-163 days
that they were tracked. Also, another 4 dual carriageways
studied in areas without radio-tracked wolves have not held
back the expansion of the population. On the contrary, only 3
of the 8 wolves at less than 5km from the River Duero were
detected crossing it and 2 of those started to do so
immediately after serious disturbances in the habitat.
Furthermore, the Duero corridor seems to have held back the
expansion of the population during more than 15 years, so it
seems to constitute a semi permeable barrier for this species.
The
study suggests that the accumulation of various obstacles can
have a synergic effect, creating a much greater barrier effect
than if they were separate. During the study, the number of
dual carriageways in the area has multiplied by 5 and the
construction of hotels, petrol stations and other roads nearby
the dual carriageways is probably increasing the barrier
effect of these. The study recommends the routine inclusion of
wildlife passes in each new infrastructure that is built,
following the recommendations described in the specialised
bibliography.
Blanco, J.C., Cortés, Y. y
Virgós, E. (2005). Wolf
response to two kinds of barriers in an agricultural habitat
in Spain. Canadian Journal of Zoology, 83: 312-323.
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Juan
Carlos Blanco.
Consultants
in
Biology for Conservation.
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Study
of the Effectiveness of Wildlife Passages in the Rías
Bajas dual carriageways
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Recently, an article has been published on the
effectiveness of wildlife passages (Mata et al. 2005) as
a measure destined to alleviate the barrier effect of
wildlife.The article presented the results of a study that was
carried out on the Rías Bajas (A-52) dual carriageways by
some members of the Grupo de Ecología Terrestre of the
University of Madrid in a convention with the CEDEX.
In this study,
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CEDEX
(Ministry
for Public Works/ Universidad Autónoma de Madrid) |
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intensive monitoring was carried out on 82 transversal
structures of the road including all types present, both those
inherent to the road (drainage systems, bridges and other
under passes) and others especially adapted or constructed for
wildlife use (oversized drainage systems and specially
designed wildlife passages).
In
total, 1,122 recordings – day were obtained corresponding to
almost all of the terrestrial vertebrate species present in
the study area.
The
results show that the structural aspects (amplitude and
position above or below the road) are the most determining for
the animals that use the transversal structures of the road,
resulting in the complementary use between species of the
different types of passages. The surrounding vegetation and
human activity in the area exercised little influence. In
general, a direct relation between the size of the animal and
the dimensions of the passages used is observed.
The different use of the types of passages according to
the species means that in general, the correct measures in new
roads should focus on the establishment of varied typologies
and not only on the investment of a reduced number of large,
specific wildlife passages. Furthermore, the relation between
the size of the passage and the vertebrates that use them
gives an indication about the desirable distance between
transversal structures on the road. Passages with large
dimensions and higher costs should cover the needs of the
connectivity of populations of large species and large
territories. The existence of viaducts and/or specific
wildlife passages each 3-5 km are desirable. The connectivity
of smaller species can be re-established through suitable
drainage constructions and the conditioning of structural type
passages on the road.
Mata. C.; Hervás, I.;
Herranz, J.; Suárez, F. & Malo, J. E. (2005).
Complementary use by vertebrates of crossing structures along
a fenced Spanish dual carriageway. Biological Conservation,
124: 397-405.
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Cristina
Mata, Israel
Hervás, Jesús Herranz, Juan I. Dolent and Francisco Suárez.
Department
of Ecology. Universidad Autónoma de Madrid.
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Identification and diagnose of areas of interaction between ecological
corridors and large capacity roads in Euskadi
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Mikel
Gurrutxaga (IKT)
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País Vasco, which has been carried out by IKT S.A. and assigned by the Basque
Government Biodiversity Department, special attention has been
paid to those stretches of motorway and dual carriageways
which intersect with the planned connections. In these stretches, the existing
transversal structures have been studied
(tunnels, viaducts, drainage systems, etc.) with the
aim of planning corrective measures for the improvement of
their permeability.
In
order to do this, the potential permeability of the
transversal structures (on the basis of its dimensions,
location in the countryside and integration in the landscape)
has been estimated and those negative factors which have been
making it difficult for wildlife to use them have been
identified (such as the scarcity of vegetation cover, the
presence of perimetral fencing at access points, the absence
of dry riverbeds, the storage of machinery and other objects
in under passes etc.). As a previous step to the preparation
of ecoducts and passages specifically designed for wildlife in
constructed road infrastructures, the planned corrective
measures in the existent transversal structures are
characterised by their simplicity and low cost, in such a way
that they constitute a first step in the search for solutions
to the barrier effect.
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Mikel
Gurrutxaga San Vicente. Ingurune Naturaleko eta GISeko Saila /
Department of Environment and GIS - IKT
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Ecological compensation of highway impacts: Negotiated
trade-off or no-net-loss?
This
is the edition of a doctorate thesis written by Ruud Cuperus
(University of Leiden, 2004). It offers a critical examination
on how the principle of ecological compensation has been
applied in the planning and construction of the Dutch roads of
national status (motorways and other trunk roads). The first
part of the book is dedicated to the principle of ecological
compensation and it asks questions which will be confronted in
the study.
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The second
part compiles 6 articles published by the author between
1996 and 2003 in specialised magazines (originals
published in English or translated into this language in
the thesis); they analyse particular cases of
application of compensatory measures on Dutch motorways,
and also global aspects of the experiences across the
country. This part finishes with summaries of the
results grouped by themes: planification and desicion
taking, implementation, costs of compensation,
evaluation and surveying, legal aspects, public support
and deficits in knowledge. The third and last part of
the book discusses some problems and unresolved aspects
of ecological compensation. This discussion and the
general conclusions bring us to a series of
recommendations. The volume ends by discussing the
perspectives of the principle of compensation and sums
up the conclusions of the book. Apart from this being an
interesting book
for its contents, it is relevant, being the first
dedicated to this subject in a European context.
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ESA-INTECOL
2005 Joint Meeting: Ecology at multiple scales.
7-12 August 2005. Montreal (Canada). Organisers: International
Association for Ecology (INTECOL) and Ecological Society of
America (ESA). Within the framework of this conference, a
symposium entitled: Reducing habitat fragmentation by
roads: A comparison of measures and scales will be carried
out.
More
information at: http://www.intecol.net/;
http://www.esa.org
The
International Conference on Ecology & Transportation
(ICOET).
29 August - 2 September 2005. San Diego, California (United
States). Organisers: California Department of Transportation y
Road Ecology Center.
More
information at: http://www.icoet.net/ICOET2005.html
Sustainable
Planning 2005. Second International Conference on Sustainable
Planning & Development. 12-15 September 2005. Bologna
(Italia). Organisers: Wessex Institute of Technology (United
Kingdom). One of the topics that will be dealt with in this
conference is the evaluation of environmental impact.
More
information at:
http://www.wessex.ac.uk/conferences/2005/spd05/index.html
World
conference on ecological restoration.
12-18 September 2005. Zaragoza. Organisers:
Society for Ecological Restoration International (SERI) and
Instituto Pirenaico de Ecología-CSIC.
More
information at: http://www.ser.org/content/2005Conference.asp
Seminar
on Linear Infrastructures and Biodiversity.
13-14 October 2005. Évora (Portugal). Organisers: Universidad de Évora.
More information at: Universidade de Évora. Departamento de Biología.
Unidade de Biología da Conservação. Pólo da Mitra. 7002-554 Évora
Coloquio Routes et petite faune
sauvage. 21-22 Septiembre 2005.
Chambéry, Savoia (France).Organisers: Sétra (Service d'études
techniques des routes et autoroutes), Ministère de
l'Equipement, des Transports, de l'Aménagement du territoire,
du Tourisme et de la Mer, y D4E (Direction des études
économiques et de l'évaluation environmentale), Ministère
de l’Ecologie et Développement durable. This conference
centres on the state of the question of small, wild
animal protection during the planification and construction of
transport infrastructures.
More information at: cendrine.labelle@equipement.gouv.fr
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The European project of technological exchange
COST 341. Fragmentation of habitats caused by transport
infrastructures (1999-2003) generated these materials:
COST 341.The Fragmentation of the habitat in
relation to transport infrastructures in Spain. This can be obtained from the Servicio de
Publicaciones of the Ministry of the Environment.
Wildlife and traffic. A European handbook for
identifying conflicts and designing solutions. This can be ordered here. It is hoped that a
translation in Spanish will be available at the end of 2005.
CD-ROM, which integrates all the documents,
elaborated during the Action COST 341. This can be obtained at entity
IENE.
CD-ROM with the minutes of the proceedings of the
Action COST 341 conference closing ceremony. This can be obtained through the web page IENE.
Data Base. This can be consulted on the IENE web page. It contains
bliographical records on the fragmentation of
habitats and the measures applied in order to reduce it in all
the countries participating in the Action. If you wish to send
information on the Spanish State to be incorporated into the
database, you can complete the forms from bibliografía and medidas
preventivas y correctoras and send them to habitats.transporte@mma.es.
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This publication comes out every six months
within the framework of the Fragmentation Habitat Due to
Transportation Infrastructure Project. It is promoted by the Dirección General para la Biodiversidad,
Ministerio de Medio Ambiente. MINUARTIA,
Estudis Ambientals is
undertaking the technical administration of the project.
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To subscribe to the bulletin, please
send your personal details (name, organisation, address,
e-mail, telephone number and fax) to the following address
habitats.transporte@mma.es.
If you do not want to receive further issues of this bulletin
any more, please send a message under the subject “Unsubscribe”.
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The information in this bulletin
can be reproduced
and used, but for commercial purposes, and always
naming the source of information: Bulletin “Habitat Fragmentation
Due to Transportation Infrastructure” (Dirección General
para la Biodiversidad, Ministerio de Medio Ambiente, number
2, july 2005).
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