Supporting wildlife movement amid the rise of border infrastructure

Katarzyna Nowak, Viktar Fenchuk, Magdalena Niedziałkowska, Izabela Stachowicz, Łukasz Kuberski, Tomasz Samojlik, Michał Żmihorski, Tanya Rosen, Myles Traphagen, Nuria Selva

Transboundary areas of conservation importance affected by border infrastructure and militarization urgently need connectivity conservation solutions. Where human conflicts are ongoing and peace initiatives may be unviable, smaller-scale approaches can still be implemented. We propose a multi-faceted approach to support animal movement and minimize impacts of multiple border barriers on medium to large-sized mammals in Białowieża Forest, a UNESCO World Heritage Site shared by Belarus and Poland. These “wildlife border passages” require maximizing or modifying existing infrastructure or restoring known pathways as follows: 1) opening gates designed to facilitate wildlife movement between Poland and Belarus, also to release animals trapped between barriers; 2) creation of passages at barrier bottom to permit movement of medium-sized species including those highly threatened by border infrastructure such as Eurasian lynx; and 3) unfencing of riverine areas, which often serve as movement corridors for large mammals like moose. Joint monitoring of wildlife border passages to evaluate and improve their effectiveness will strengthen bilateral collaboration. Adopting less invasive security technologies, for example virtual fencing, can help realize such approaches at lower cost to the natural world.