Canada has more than a million kilometres of rural roads. Although vital corridors for travel and commerce, roads fragment habitats, disrupt animal movement and lead to millions of wildlife deaths from collisions.
Yet roadways shouldn’t be written off as ecological wastelands. Many jurisdictions mandate that a certain amount of land on either side of a road be maintained as a hazard-free “clear zone.” In the right-of-way area between the clear zone and the fence line, plants can grow, but tree encroachment has to be prevented and plants kept below a certain height for driver safety.
