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“They are simply large bridges or tunnels which are installed above or below the highway and which allow animals to cross safely.“, explains Emmanuel Rondeau, director and photographer. Here are the eco-bridges, which span the roads, and the eco-pipelines, dug underneath. Their goal: to reduce the impact of 12,000 kilometers of French motorways on wild animals.
In Europe, the roads kill around 194 million birds and 29 million mammals each year. In France, out of the 9,200 kilometers of tracks managed by motorway companies, there are more than 1,800 wildlife crossings. Some are specialized for certain species, like this bat pipe intended for bats.
For several months, Emmanuel Rondeau was interested in this eco-bridge located near Bordeaux. He notably succeeded in capturing a photo of a deer above the cars. To be effective, these infrastructures must be placed on animal routes, reproduce their natural environment as well as possible and be combined with fences along the roads. “We know that a few eco-bridges will not be enough to solve the problem we have in front of us, but I find that, and that’s also why I wanted to make this image (…) It shows that when we put all our engineering, all our human intelligence, not to destroy everything we can around us, but on the contrary to try to build rather intelligent bridges, well we see that it works and that we can do inspiring things“, considers the photographer.
