Pachyderm No. 57 July 2015–June 2016
Preliminary Indications Of The Effect Of Infrastructure Development On Ecosystem Connectivity In Tsavo National Parks, Kenya (2016)
Balancing conservation and infrastructure developmentConserving land and ecosystem connectivity for wildlife is increasingly a global challenge as demand for infrastructure development to meet growing human population needs encroaches in many traditional wildlife areas.
Pachyderm
Okita-Ouma, B., Lala, F., Moller, R., Koskei M., Kiambi, S, Daballen, D., Leadismo, C., Mijele, D., Poghon, J., King, L., Pope F., Wittemyer G., Wall, J., Goss, S., Obrien, R., Douglas-Hamilton I.
Summary
Balancing conservation and infrastructure developmentConserving land and ecosystem connectivity for wildlife is increasingly a global challenge as demand for infrastructure development to meet growing human population needs encroaches in many traditional wildlife areas. The survival of wildlife species in arid and semi-arid systems requires interconnected landscapes, and limiting animal movement greatly reduces the system’s ability to sustain viable wildlife populations (Vasudev et al. 2015). Major infrastructural developments such as multi-lane highways and railways can sever wildlife movement often with negative consequences (Clevenger and Waltho 2005; van-der-Ree et al. 2011; Xia et al. 2007).