Sejong, October 14 - The Ministry of Environment (ME, Minister Han Wha-jin), the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, and Transport (MOLIT, Minister Won Hee-ryong), and the National Institute of Ecology (NIE, President Jo Do-Sun) announced that they have established the "measures to reduce roadkill for 2022" for road traffic safety and wildlife protection.

ME and MOLIT enacted the "guidelines for the investigation and management of roadkill" in May 2018 to prevent roadkill and develop effective countermeasures. For the first time in June 2020, the ministries selected the top 50 sections with the highest incidence of animal-vehicle collisions and implemented accident prevention measures (2020-2022). The ministries installed guide fences and warning signs for roadkill in these sections as part of the countermeasures. According to the NIE's monitoring of the top 50 sections after installing reduction facilities, 46 sections out of 50 were excluded from accident-prone areas as the number of wildlife-vehicle collisions decreased significantly (1,197 cases in 2019 → 237 cases in 2021, down by 960 cases).

Based on the NIE's monitoring results, ME and MOLIT have newly selected the top 80 sections with frequent roadkill (more than 5 cases/km). They will implement the following reduction measures to reduce the number of roadkill-prone areas. From October 2022 to the year 2024, guide fences will be installed on 62 (242.7 km) out of the 80 sections to prevent wild animals such as water deer and raccoons from entering the roads. In 26 sections where it is difficult to install fences, 64 LED warning signs will be installed until 2024 before entering the accident-prone sections, allowing drivers to see them even at night. Beginning this month, the NIE EcoBank website (nie-ecobank.kr) will provide a map of road sections where roadkill is common. Beginning in November 2022, GPS navigation system companies will be provided with the location information of roadkill-prone sections to give the drivers a voice warning before entering the areas and display warning signs on GPS navigations.

Kim Jong-ryul, Director-General of the Nature Conservation Bureau, said, "the concerned ministries plan to implement the 'measures to reduce roadkill continuously' to protect wild animals and secure the safety of drivers." He added, "In addition to the government's efforts to reduce roadkill, it is more important for drivers to adhere to speed limits and drive safely."

Contact: Kwon Min-hyuk, Deputy Director

Nature and Ecology Policy Division/ +82-(0)44-201-7231

Foreign Media Contact: Chun Minjo(Rachel)

+82-(0)44-201-6055 / rachelmchun@korea.kr