Eight Amazon rope bridges logged 15,000 wildlife crossings with 0 roadkill in Brazil
The installation of eight rope bridges in the Amazon town of Alta Floresta has successfully facilitated 15,000 wildlife crossings without a single roadkill incident over 15 months. The project, led by biologist Fernanda Abra, is now being adopted as a standard for highway infrastructure in Brazil.
Why it matters
This low-cost, effective solution addresses the critical issue of habitat fragmentation and wildlife mortality caused by road networks in biodiversity hotspots.
In Alta Floresta, a small Amazon town in northern Mato Grosso, eight rope bridges installed in 2024 now span the road leading into town, and the results after 15 months are striking. Camera traps recorded about 15,000 safe crossings by tree-dwelling animals, including several monkey species, and not a single roadkill. The bridges come from Projeto Reconecta, founded by biologist Fernanda Abra, and are now being expanded in other parts of Brazil and in Suriname. Brazil's National Department of Transport Infrastructure has also named the design its recommended highway standard, which could bring similar crossings to roads across the country.Why roads are deadly for Brazilian wildlife and the domino effect on Amazon forestsBrazil has the greatest diversity of primates in the world and also the fourth-largest road network, a dangerous combination for animals living along forest edges split apart by highways.
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