Roads pose a constant threat to native wildlife by cutting them off from important areas for breeding, food and shelter. It's an all too common scene in Australia to see animals harmed on the side of the highway, with recent NRMA statistics revealing there were over 12,000 wildlife-related road claims in the past year.
But one Aussie council has been praised by its residents for installing dozens of "tiny cardboard teepees" on the edge of an overpass after removing overgrown invasive weeds and replacing them with native species.
Sunshine Coast Council recently upgraded its one-of-its-kind 150m wildlife bridge on Creswell Road, in Meridan Plains, which acts as a crucial corridor for native animals such as insects, frogs, reptiles and small mammals like sugar gliders, bush rats and bandicoots from habitats south of the bridge, with reserves on the north.
"This overpass has a wide strip, about five metres wide of bushy vegetation, and [council] weeded out all of the invasive plants and reseeded it with native ones," ReHatch inventor Dr Alexandra Carthey explained.
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For mammals that primarily live in trees, such as possums and squirrel gliders, there is a 130m long elevated rope bridge, but for ground-dwelling animals, the plants will "take a while to grow" before they are safe to use, meaning that they'll be of no use to small critters for shelter until they are bigger.
It's hoped that the cardboard habitat pods, which last in the environment for a year before breaking down, will bridge that 12-month gap.
What are habitat pods?
Known as ReHabitat, the pods were originally designed as a solution "after bushfires", but they work "just as well" in this scenario too, inventor Carthey told Yahoo. "The initiative makes a lot of sense even if it looks funny."
Carthey is a wildlife ecologist at Macquarie University who came up with the idea in 2020 after the Black Summer bushfires.
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"We saw injured wildlife surviving bushfires, but there was no cover left in those burnt environments, so they became sitting ducks for predators," she said. In the aftermath of bushfires, feral cats and foxes have been able to easily hunt without the impediment of thick bush where animals can usually hide away.
Searching online, Carthey saw temporary shelters for humans after disasters and wondered "why don't we do this for animals?"
The pods are designed with flatpack cardboard that can be fit together in the field, and biodegrades over time.
"They start to collapse and fall apart and cardboard peels open, but we want that to happen," she explained. Once it starts to decompose, more critters like lizards and beetles move in. "They have a whole lifecycle that we're discovering," she said.
The idea has been used in multiple scenarios around the country, most recently in the Grampians National Park after it was scorched by bushfires, as well as by the Australian Wildlife Conservancy to monitor native mice on predator-free islands.
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While being used alongside a road was not her initial vision for the pods, Carthey said she "loves it".
"I think it's great," she said. "As long as it's benefiting wildlife, it's all good."
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Council's bold move to protect wildlife
Councillor Tim Burns said the area was weeded and replanted with 530 native plants which they hope will soon become home to small mammals, frogs, insects and reptiles.
"We know wildlife moves across the region and our team at Council has undertaken studies to understand this further,” Burns said.
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"Our surveys have shown that the Cresswell Road bridge is used by a large variety of native animals as safe passage over the busy Caloundra Road. It provides a crucial north-south connection across what would otherwise be a significant barrier to their movement."
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