Introduction

The presence of a well-developed road network in a region is a sine qua non for both economic development and efficient use of land resources (OECD 1986; Macpherson 1993; Tolley and Turton 1995; Jaarsma 1997). Rural road networks are planned to facilitate human movements.

Where there is fragmentation of habitat of both plant and animal populations, there is a need to facilitate movement of wildlife. For this purpose, ecological networks are planned. These networks are composed of core areas, buffer zones, and connecting ecological corridors (Jongman 1999). Ecological networks consist of large patches, which are the core areas, with surrounding buffer zones, mutually connected by long stretches of linear elements, which are the corridors (van Bohemen et al. 1991). Smith (1993) defines these corridors as ‘linear conservation areas’ or ‘greenways’. The term greenway has been applied to a wide range of landscape planning strategies, concepts, and plans. Nevertheless there is still little agreement on terminology (Ahern 1995). For this reason, within the context of this chapter, we use the term ecological network, according to Jongman (1999) and van Bohemen et al. (1991).

Well-known conflicts arise where the ecological networks and greenways meet human highways, where nature conservation conflicts with roads and the traffic they carry. Forman and Alexander (1998) and Spellerberg (1998) present surveys of the extensive literature in this field. Much of the research refers to the conflicts in the core areas and/or the conflicts with motorways.