Street and city
Wildlife crossing
road forest edge biological corridor coastal neighborhood national park
A structure that lets animals cross a road, a canal or a power line without being exposed. It can be a rope or aerial bridge between treetops, a tunnel or underpass beneath the road, or a vegetated bridge over it.
What it solves
It reduces roadkill and electrocution deaths and reconnects forests that the road split in two. In the tropics it lets monkeys, sloths and other canopy animals continue on their way without coming down to the asphalt.
Today
Place the crossing where animals already cross, based on a study of their behavior. Anchor it to the base of sturdy trees. On aerial crossings for monkeys add an upper rope for the tail and check tension and wear with a maintenance plan.
Common mistake
Hanging a rope at any point, without knowing where animals pass or who will check it, while the nearby power cables remain uninsulated.
Tomorrow
Wildlife crossings can go from isolated pieces to networks, linked by living fences, street trees and biological corridors that cross neighborhoods and farms. Neighbors, schools and guides can adopt a crossing, count those who use it and report when it needs repair.
Fact In Playa Hermosa, Guanacaste, 111 aerial crossings and insulated cables coincided with a drop from five to one howler monkey death per year.
Where it comes from
- 1European highways France, 1950s
The first land crossings designed for wildlife to cross roads were built there. - 2Ecoduct network Zeist, Netherlands, 1988
That year the country’s oldest wildlife crossing opened, and today the Netherlands has more than 66 crossings and ecoducts. - 3Coastal community of Guanacaste Playa Hermosa, Costa Rica, 2015 to 2021
111 aerial crossings were installed together with insulated wiring, and the local howler monkey population grew from 59 to 99 individuals. - 4Costa Rican environmental legislation San José, Costa Rica, 2026
In August the law under file 23.166 was approved in second reading, requiring wildlife crossings in public infrastructure that cuts off animal movement.
Appears in the routes
See also
Also in Street and city
Diagrams and texts by LDB Arquitectura. They are shared under the CC BY 4.0 license, which allows them to be used and adapted with credit to the source.