Preserving safe migration corridors for flying vertebrates in the Czechia-Saxony border region

Project presentation

The main objective of the project is to protect biodiversity in the migration corridors of the Saxon-Czech border region. Through biological research, the creation of a database and electronic map of risk areas, and the testing of appropriate protective measures, we are minimizing the negative impacts of new roads and the expansion of existing ones. This is the first project of its kind to be implemented on such a complex scale, aimed at preserving the natural functioning of ecosystems while maintaining economic development and quality of life. The demands on transport links and landscape fragmentation will only increase in the future. More than 10% of the bird and bat populations (flying vertebrates = FV) die on roads. In places where the migration corridors of these FV cross transport infrastructure, protective walls are the only solution to reduce direct mortality. Defining the areas where protective walls should be installed, as well as testing their type, is crucial for maintaining the permeability of the border areas of both countries. FVs are guided by linear elements, riparian vegetation, and windbreaks as they move through the landscape. Although migration corridors for large mammals are well known, the risk areas for FVs are not known. In Germany, locations where various types of protective walls have been installed are much more common than in the Czech Republic, but in both countries there is a lack of evidence of their effectiveness in reducing the direct mortality of endangered FV. Both countries will gain information from the project on the usability of the walls, and a technical regulation will be created for a new wall that reduces FV mortality.

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