A destroyed frog next to a cigarette, the body of a dove with wings bent under the fragmentation registered on himself, registered in half. In any country in the world, the intersection of the road can be have a condemn for thousands of animals This does not understand artificial restrictions that share the territory.
Rolling traffic has become one of Most deadly factors for wildlifeTouching both general species and secure samples. Everything to cross the path to a lesser extent, even if it was only to look for food, return to the nest or follow the traces of your group. IN NetherlandsThe naturalist decided Count these bodies To show that everyone had a name, date and place.
The zoologist decided that this was not enough to see, and decided to count them one after another
Bram Cossa He is a zoologist, a specialist in water insects, and he crosses a narrow road to the southern Amsterdam, where the movement moves daily to avoid the movement of the highway. In this section of four kilometers, he watched as All families have disappeared geese, protected amphibians and migratory birds.
So, with an emphasis on his head and a notebook, he set himself on Register everything that I found deadThe field I uploaded data and photos to the portTo international observationWhere every victim was recorded, from Owl to Tritons. After a twelve -month round along the same path, his account reached 642 copiesField
The list included 35 mammals, 90 birds and 515 amphibians. Some with special legal protection, such as a tour, a toad of a corridor or a flexible frog. The absence of the reaction of the municipal authorities to these data led to the organization of Koese to the organization intervention that made this constant drops abuse. About twenty volunteers gathered, and, thanks to the cooperation of the workshop on a bicycle and residents in the area, they prepared Cross for each documented animalmade from lively sauce and processed tanks of the old tree, all painted white.
Preparations stretched for more than two weeks. By that time, they had already chosen the exact points where crossing should be installed, each with The name of the animal and the date of his deathIn addition to the QR cod, which is associated with the original image of the sample. Through the channel, which goes parallel to the road, they transported pieces in boats, bicycles and trucks. They did it at dawn to avoid traffic and attract attention before the drivers spent to work to work.
May 7, 2021 in just a few hours, They left 642 crosses along ZenndewegThe field is a white straight line, dotted with memory of every creature that died there when no one noticed. The Koiz told the local and national press, and a few days later the gesture was reproduced in different media. According to the anthropologist Jane Desmond In our study on the cultural impact of fauna abuse, these types of interventions allow “we begin to more clearly perceive the magnitude of the death of animals caused by a folded movement.”
Ephemeral installation that managed to arouse conscience in a few hours
In the early hours, some drivers reduced speed. Others stopped reading the inscriptions. But the next day, All crosses were demolishedSome suspected that the same person who had months before Saboted the step of the fauna for OTES, could be responsible for the law on vandalismDespite this, the field and their team raised them again, because there were still images to show data to explain.
A week later, a full report with the exact location and the number of bodies was taken to the city council. In addition to the document, they attached A proposal to limit circulation On this path to the local movement. The action also forced other environmental groups to be interested in Repeat the methodNot only to condemn the consequences of movement, but also to register the evolution of species that regularly cross the city areas.
The case also emphasized that most official projects that measure the influence of fauna on the appeal as The purpose of reducing accidents with large animals, but do not pay attention to the influence of vehicles on small animalsHowever, the field of Koiz and its team began with the opposite effect: to record damage caused by daily movement on the most vulnerable species.
It all started with a bicycle, focus and laptop. But the result was Visible road cemetery What changed the method of discussing the problem. The team knew that the crosses would be ephemeral, but when someone travels along this road, although there are no more white crosses there, he will know that there were 642 animals. And that someone demanded that they tell them.
