ROADS HARMFUL

SAHABAT Alam Malaysia (SAM) is appalled at the frequent occurrences of roadkill affecting our endangered species. It has been reported that since 2011, wild animals, such as civets, wild boars, marbled cats and tapirs, have been killed in road accidents.

Among wildlife, mammals make up the highest number of animals killed in these accidents, accounting for 1,110 deaths.

According to the natural resources and environment minister on July 14 last year, these protected species were killed on federal, state and municipal roads, involving 61 roads and highway networks in the country.

Not surprisingly, most accidents have taken place in or near forested areas where wild animals tried to cross a road to get from one forest to another.

Despite SAM and other nongovernmental organisations highlighting the harmful effects of roads to wildlife, road density continues to increase with roads criss-crossing the country.

Federal and state governments, and local transportation departments devote huge budgets to the construction and upgrading of roads.

Multinational lending institutions finance roads that dissect rainforests and usher in a flood of settlers who destroy them and indigenous cultures.

Public land-managing agencies build thousands of miles of roads each year to support their resource extraction activities.

Most public agencies disregard the ecological impact of roads, and attempt to justify logging roads as benefiting the public and wildlife management.

Although the effects of different types of roads vary, virtually all are bad and the net effect is catastrophic.

Roadkill does have a significant impact on wildlife population.

The greatest threat posed to wildlife are speeding vehicles on highways. Unimproved, unpaved roads are less dangerous.

Increase in traffic volume results in more collisions on any given road, and in our profligate