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Good practice Imported

A4 Motorway Wildlife Crossings — Camera-Trap Monitoring in the Lower Silesian Forest (Poland)

Poland · Bolesławiec · See the Poland profile

Evidence: Observational / pre–post Top 76% 33/100 · Ask Evidence Copilot about this practice

Camera-trap and track surveys of 15 crossing structures on Poland's A4 motorway through the Lower Silesian Forest (2010-2013) found wild species made 51.5% of crossings and confirmed regular overpass use by three wolf packs, feeding a ~3,000-structure national programme.

51.5 %
Share of crossings by wild species (2010-2013)
~2,960
Wildlife crossing structures built nationally (by end-2018)
A4 Motorway Wildlife Crossings — Camera-Trap Monitoring in the Lower Silesian Forest (Poland) A4 Motorway Wildlife Crossings — Camera-Trap Monitoring in the Lower Silesian Forest (Poland)

Details

Maturity
Scaling
Promoter
Association for Nature "Wolf" (Stowarzyszenie dla Przyrody "Wilk"); General Directorate for National Roads and Motorways (GDDKiA)
Period
2010-2013
Region (NUTS)
PL51
Keywords
road ecology, wildlife connectivity, wolf conservation, infrastructure monitoring

Context

The A4 motorway's Zgorzelec-Krzyzowa section cuts through the Lower Silesian Forest, a large tract in western Poland recently recolonised by grey wolves.

Activities

Researchers from the Association for Nature 'Wolf' monitored 6 overpasses, 5 large underpasses and 4 small underpasses using track-beds and camera traps over three years (2010-2013).

Results

Wild species accounted for 51.5% of all recorded crossings; species richness and crossing frequency of wild mammals were consistently higher on overpasses than underpasses, and researchers documented the first hard evidence of regular, repeated overpass use by three distinct wolf packs.

Conclusions

Poland's road authority (GDDKiA) has since scaled this approach nationally, building roughly 2,960 wildlife crossing structures by end-2018, reporting animal-vehicle collision reductions of several tens of percent on equipped sections — though this national aggregate is GDDKiA's own reporting, not independently peer-reviewed.

Implementation
Indicative cost
High (€500k–€5M) — Cost of individual structures not disclosed; part of national motorway construction and a ~2,960-structure national programme.
Time to results
Long (> 3 years) — Monitored 2010-2013; national scale-up reported through 2018.
Staffing & skills
Association for Nature 'Wolf' researchers, GDDKiA (national road authority)

Conditions for success

  • Wide vegetated overpasses, not just underpasses, proven to support large-carnivore recolonisation
  • National road authority adoption scaling a locally validated design

Commonly funded by

ERDF — European Regional Development Fund National / regional programmes

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Data sources

Where this practice's information was retrieved from, and when.

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