22 July | Online – Road infrastructure and biodiversity are often viewed as competing priorities. IRF is advocating for a different approach, one in which nature-positive road design improves environmental outcomes while strengthening road safety, resilience and long-term economic performance.

Speaking during the Community of Practice on Nature and Infrastructure (CoPNI) webinar, IRF Head of Advocacy and Outreach Alice Yiu outlined how the transport sector can better integrate biodiversity into road planning and delivery as part of the UN Decade of Sustainable Transport (2026–2035). She also highlighted the role of the Roadmaps for Change series, developed by IRF with partners Arup, Australia National Transport Research Organisation, Global Alliance of NGOs for Road Safety, International Federation of Consulting Engineers, International Road Assessment Programme, ORIS Materials Intelligence and World Wildlife Fund, in providing practical guidance for road agencies seeking to deliver greener infrastructure.

Nature as Infrastructure, Not an Add-On

Yiu presented that biodiversity should be considered a core component of infrastructure performance rather than an environmental requirement added late in project development. Nature-positive interventions can simultaneously improve road safety, climate resilience and ecosystem health.

Examples include wildlife crossings that reduce habitat fragmentation while lowering wildlife-vehicle collisions, nature-based drainage systems that protect both ecosystems and road assets, and vegetation management that balances driver visibility with carbon storage and habitat connectivity. The roadmap also encourages agencies to move beyond simply reducing environmental impacts by actively restoring biodiversity and ecosystem integrity throughout the project lifecycle.

Making the Economic Case

A central message of the presentation was that investing in biodiversity also makes financial sense.

Yiu noted that road agencies respond to evidence demonstrating the cost of inaction. Wildlife-vehicle collisions impose significant economic costs through vehicle damage, injuries and fatalities. Research cited during the presentation shows that preventive measures such as wildlife fencing and crossings can reduce collisions involving large mammals by around 80%, with the threshold at which these investments become cost-effective continuing to fall as collision costs increase. 

She also pointed to other infrastructure solutions, including permeable pavements, that can improve safety, reduce maintenance costs and deliver environmental benefits simultaneously. These examples reinforce the importance of considering biodiversity and sustainability during planning and design rather than after project decisions have already been made. 

Embedding Nature Throughout the Project Lifecycle

The Green Roads roadmap promotes integrating biodiversity considerations from the earliest stages of infrastructure planning through construction, operation and maintenance.

Using the mitigation hierarchy – avoid, minimise, restore and offset only as a last resort – the guidance encourages road agencies to incorporate biodiversity into policy development, route selection, engineering design, procurement practices and long-term asset management. This approach aims to improve infrastructure performance while reducing environmental impacts over the lifetime of a project. 

Contributing to the Green Roads Roadmap

IRF is inviting experts from the Community of Practice on Nature and Infrastructure and the wider transport community to contribute to the peer review of the Green Roads roadmap, which remains open until 10 August.

Feedback from practitioners will help strengthen the guidance before publication and support road agencies in delivering infrastructure that is safer, more resilient and better aligned with biodiversity goals. 

To receive the peer review instructions and drafts, please contact Alice Yiu at ayiu@irfofficial.org.